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US FARMERS TO GET SATELLITE INFORMATION

WASHINGTON, DC - Farmers will get earlier storm warnings and more information about soil moisture now that the Agriculture Department will share sensors and maps with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), according to the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman recently signed an agreement with NASA that would give farmers access to monitors and maps that can detect and record changes in crop yields, soil and crop conditions, as well as problems with pests; sensors that help farmers determine how much fertilizer, pesticide and irrigation water their crops need; and technology that could warn farmers about changes in climate and track storms and severe weather like tornadoes. The agreement stemmed from a partnership that began in February, when the USDA Forest Service helped NASA track down pieces of the shuttle Columbia after it broke up over Texas, killing all seven astronauts on board. Investigators still are trying to determine what caused the accident.
 
BIOTECH MISINFORMATION "THREATENING LIVES," SENATOR SAYS

WASHINGTOM, DC - "Misinformation about the so-called dangers posed by
biotechnology is threatening lives in Africa," and the European Union is "partly to blame for the situation," charged Us Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA). In a recent speech to the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute (CELI), Grassley said, "By refusing to adopt scientifically-based laws regarding biotechnology, the EU has fed the myth that biotech crops are somehow dangerous. Ironically," he added, "the European Union itself has approved some biotech crops as safe. At the same time, the European Union has refused to end its moratorium on biotech authorizations, a situation that has led other countries to assume that biotech products are somehow dangerous." Grassley, who raises genetically modified corn and soybeans on a farm he owns in his home state of Iowa, said "the European Union's lack of science-based biotech laws is unacceptable," and threatens the health of millions of Africans. "I am particularly troubled by reports that some EU member states have warned that their relations with poorer countries - including those in Africa - could be harmed if those countries accept U.S. biotech food aid," he told his audience. "Any such threats," he termed "unacceptable." Food aid, he stressed, "should not be used as a bargaining chip." Grassley, who chairs the Committee on Finance in the US Senate, said the world is at a "turning point" with regard to agricultural biotechnology. "On one hand, we can embrace biotechnology and use it to fight hunger in Africa and other parts of the world. On the other hand, the world can reject biotechnology and the promises it holds for African farmers, African consumers, and others throughout the world. "To me, the answer is clear," he said, "just as agricultural biotechnology benefits those of us in the United States, it can benefit millions of people in Africa." Grassley called the situation in Africa a "tragedy," with some 13 million people in southern Africa facing starvation within the past year. "Scaremongers have propagated misinformation regarding biotechnology," he added.  While rumors have spread in Africa that biotech foods can cause allergies, lead to deformities, and result in other health and environmental calamities, Grassley emphatically told his audience, "Nothing could be further from the truth. If these products were unhealthy, we wouldn't consume them in the United States. If they harmed the environment, we wouldn't be growing them in Iowa," his home state.

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