Like Europe, U.S. use of inputs like fertilizer slowed as genetics and technology increased in their role in production. The difference is that U.S. agricultural productivity will see substantially differernt gains in the years ahead. Partial Productivity HFFA Research completed a study for the European Plant Technology Platform that found improved plant breeding techniques over the past 15 years has boosted productivity by 16 percent or just over 1 percent per year. Importantly, seed genetics accounts for 74 percent of all productivity gains in the EU and drives a third of farmer income. Missing from the analysis is how much stronger the gains would have been had Brussels allowed the use of biotechnology in production for more than a few...

TAGS – Feed Grains, Farm Inputs, Softs, North America