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Biotechnology and agriculture have evolved together.
Since humanity first started farming, we have been working to impact soil, plants, animals, and microbes to secure a stable food supply. Biotech brings a scientific approach to this endeavor, driving rapid progress.
As we celebrate National Agriculture Day on March 18, it’s a good time to recognize how biotech helps farmers and ranchers enable a resilient food supply by feeding more people with fewer inputs. This shared mission of food security also means biotech and agriculture share policy concerns.
One way biotech boosts agriculture is through advances in gene editing, such as the CRISPR-Cas9 method, to speed improvements in plants and animals. The same modifications that would be achieved through many generations of cross-breeding can be achieved much more quickly through gene editing.
Speed matters, according to Sylvia Wulf, Interim EVP & Head of Agriculture and Environment at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).
“Given the challenges that we face right now—whether it is extreme weather events, different pests, weeds, disease—we’ve got to come up with those solutions a whole lot faster. And that’s where biotechnology can help,” Wulf explains in a recent discussion at the Farm Bureau Convention.
Improvements in plants
Biotech plant improvements can help us get more out of each acre. BIO member Bayer’s short-stature corn is more productive, easier to harvest and better able to withstand harsh weather. Rice made to absorb more fertilizer and experience enhanced photosynthesis can be 40% more productive than standard rice.
Building in drought tolerance for crops like wheat and rice also means greater productivity.
BIO Member J.R. Simplot increases potato productivity with improvements to reduce instances of phytophthora, the blight that caused Ireland’s potato famine. J.R. Simplot is also cutting food waste with crops that stay fresh longer, including potatoes that are less likely to bruise and a strawberry with an extended shelf life of 15-20 days.
Another BIO member, Okanagan Specialty Fruits, fights food waste with apples that keep fresh for 28 days, even after slicing.
Gene editing is also making crops more nutritious. The Norfolk tomato is supercharged with anthocyanin, an antioxidant that helps reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, cancer, and some inflammatory diseases. A more nutritious gene-edited sweet potato is being developed to combat Vitamin A deficiency among children in Ghana.
BIO member Benson Hill uses CRISPR technology to create ultra-high protein (UHP) soy beans for people. The company is also testing UHP soy in poultry diets and announced earlier this year that a second commercial feeding trial “resulted in heavier broilers reflecting the higher protein and metabolizable energy present in Benson Hill’s proprietary soybean genetics.”
Caring for animals
Progress in raising animals includes gene editing to produce birds resistant to avian flu and pigs resistant to deadly diseases. Boehringer Ingelheim, a BIO member, develops avian flu vaccines for birds and cattle.
BIO member Acceligen uses gene editing to breed cattle with shorter hair and greater tolerance for heat. One application is to export the productive traits of U.S. cattle, which give as much as 12 times as much milk as cattle in other parts of the world.
“The most potential for its impact is going to be in emerging economies,” Acceligen CEO Tad Sonstegard tells an I am BIO podcast.
It’s possible to give climate-resilient traits to a Holstein from Wisconsin, “export that semen to a tropical zone like Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil. And you can breed that animal to a local cow, and you can increase the milk production very rapidly,” Sonstegard explains.
Biostimulants and boosting soil
Beyond crops and livestock, biotech innovation helps farmers through genetic alteration of microorganisms. Biostimulants, made from altered microorganisms or other substances, are placed in the soil or on plants to help them grow.
BIO member Pivot Bio specializes in genetically modifying soil bacteria to enhance nutrient availability for crops. The treatment nourishes plants while reducing the need for chemical fertilizers. Pivot Bio began treating corn seeds in this way about five years ago, and they are already used in 5% of U.S. corn crops.
Fuel and biomanufacturing
For many biotech applications focused on sustainable goods that are not food, farmers provide the raw materials. Greener, low-carbon biofuels—like ethanol for cars and synthetic aviation fuels (SAF) for jet engines—are often manufactured from crops or agricultural waste.
The same is true of biomanufacturing of other consumables, from clothing to packaging, paints, and cleaners.
Biomass, the raw material for many of these biobased products, often comes from agriculture. That means biomanufacturing enjoys a resilient, renewable, domestic supply chain and generates revenue for American farmers, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report on biomass.
“This transition within the U.S. economy also aims to create and support national security through renewable resources and energy,” USDA says.
Policy matters
When it comes to policy needs, biotech’s concerns dovetail with those of farmers and ranchers and include ensuring America’s leadership in agricultural science.
“If we look at what’s happened, we are now at the lowest spending level since 1970 in terms of agricultural research. China outspends the U.S. two times in this area. They want to replace the US as the leader in biotechnology—a stated goal,” according to BIO EVP Wulf. “What we want to do is make sure that this administration and Congress understand what they need to do, which is funding agricultural research so that we can continue to lead the world.”
A lot of key policies to support farmers while enabling biotech advances are contained in the Farm Bill, which needs to be reauthorized for the next five years. Recent proposals for the bill contain measures to promote biostimulants; encourage purchase of bioproducts, including biofuels; and eliminate unneeded regulatory barriers to innovation.
Congressional approval of the Farm Bill, and similar supportive policy, remain essential to helping biotech and agriculture continue to grow together.
