Crop Progress: Still Looking Mostly Good
The crops are hurting the most in Missouri (too dry) and in southern Minnesota (too wet), but the rest of the country is more than making up for it, based on this recent assessment from INTL FCStone which puts G/E corn and soybeans around 8% better than last year:
CRISPR and Animal Disease
Minnesota hog producer Randy Spronk got his chance to make the case for using gene editing to deal with swine diseases at the recent CRISPRcon, a confab of leading researchers and academics from places like MIT and Harvard. CRISPR gene editing technology has the potential to significantly reduce the impact of swine nasties like porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) which keeps rearing its ugly head in US swine systems, particularly those in hog-dense areas where it can easily spread. CRISPR has similar potential to suppress or eliminate chronic diseases in other species. But we are still a long way away from regulatory and public approval of the technology. Speaking at the recent National Pork Industry Conference, McDonalds quality czar Ernie Meier was doubtful the consumer will accept gene-edited pork. It will take a very expensive public relations effort to convince people otherwise.
Merck Invests in Lab Meat
Giant pharma Merck and Swiss-based Bell Food Group have invested just under $9 million in Mosa Meat, the Dutch start-up which has figured out a way to grow meat in a lab using cells from real animals. Merck has experience in cell-culture technology which may help Mosa accelerate the scaling of their technology. They will need it to help lower the cost: the first lab-based beef burger cost $330,000 to develop.