The agricultural industry has been somewhat tumultuous every since it became an industry. From the time that farmers started producing for the country, instead of their homestead or maybe their town, there has always been a large push toward maximizing crop and minimizing costs (since the equipment necessary now costed over 100k). This resulted in a lot of subsidies being granted for farmers, tax breaks, low interest loans...etc. This is what brings us to present day, the agricultural industry in shambles. Basically, farmers are working to keep their head above the abyssal pool of debt they are swimming in. So, instead of using equipment to cultivate their crops multiple times during the year, agricultural engineers are now genetically engineering seeds to be pesticide and herbicide resistant. This allows the farmer to plant the seed, let it grow until the weeds around it are an issue, then treat the entire field with herbicide, killing the weeds for the remainder of the season, and allowing the crop to flourish. Farmers are no doubt wicked happy about this, but consumers are weary. Read the whole story on Huffington Post. An interesting article about some pretty harsh chemicals being applied to our fields.
Agent OrangeCorn
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/enlist-dow-agent-orange-corn_n_1456129.html
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