Skeptical greeting for USDA nominee Hutchins
The Senate should reject President Trump’s nomination of DowDuPont executive Scott Hutchins for USDA chief scientist, said Food and Water Watch on Wednesday, calling him “a particularly egregious gift to the chemical industry that imperils our food system from field to plate.”
Trump chooses Big Ag executive for USDA chief scientist
Scott Hutchins, an executive at DowDuPont, is President Trump’s choice for USDA chief scientist, announced the White House on Monday. The post of chief scientist, which doubles as undersecretary for research, has been vacant since Trump took office.
Amid dicamba fallout, Monsanto faces soybean challengers
Monsanto’s dominance of the market for genetically modified soybeans may soon be threatened, as competitors BASF and DowDuPont prepare to bring their versions of the seed to market.
Cellulosic ethanol looks more like a demonstration project than an industry
Corn ethanol represents the first generation of biofuels. Cellulosic ethanol, made from grass, woody plants, and crop debris, was supposed to be the second generation.
DowDuPont becomes second company to shut down a cellulosic ethanol plant
In another sign of trouble for so-called advanced biofuels, the newly created giant corporation DowDuPont stopped operations at its $225 million cellulosic ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa, and hopes to find a buyer for the plant with a 30-million-gallon-a-year capacity, said the Des Moines Register. Last December, Abengoa Bioenergy sold its cellulosic plant in Hugoton, Kan., for pennies on the dollar as part of a bankruptcy liquidation of assets.