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Monsanto Co offered a conservative outlook for its new fiscal year on Wednesday as it posted a bigger quarterly loss for a typically weak quarter, disappointing investors. Shares of Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, fell over 3 percent and were down 2 percent in afternoon trading after it failed to raise its fiscal 2013 earnings forecast that calls for mid-teens earnings growth.

U.S. farmers are using more hazardous pesticides to fight weeds and insects due largely to heavy adoption of genetically modified crop technologies that are sparking a rise of "superweeds" and hard-to-kill insects, according to a newly released study. Genetically engineered crops have led to an increase in overall pesticide use, by 404 million pounds from the time they were introduced in 1996 through 2011, according to the report by Charles Benbrook, a research professor at the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources at Washington State University.

Farmland values appear to be holding strong and farm balance sheets remain solid despite a devastating drought that wreaked havoc on corn and soybean crops, dried up waterways and scorched pastureland in parts of the United States, one of the largest lenders to U.S. agriculture said. "We're watching it pretty closely ... but we're certainly bullish on the industry," Roger Sturdevant, executive vice president of Bank of the West and head of its agribusiness banking division, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

Farmland values appear to be holding strong and farm balance sheets remained solid despite a devastating drought that wreaked havoc on corn and soybean crops, dried up waterways and scorched pastureland, one of the largest lenders for U.S. agriculture said on Wednesday. "We're watching it pretty closely ... but we're certainly bullish on the industry," Roger Sturdevant, executive vice president of Bank of the West and head of its Agribusiness banking division, told Reuters in an interview.

Corn seed developers who have been racing to build better varieties for low rainfall and high heat say results have been encouraging despite the worst U.S. drought in half a century. Triple-digit temperatures (Fahrenheit) coupled with historically dry conditions ravaged farm fields across the nation, with some of the most severe conditions gripping the top U.S. corn growing states in the Midwest and Plains states.

Opponents of genetically engineered foods on Wednesday blocked shipments and deliveries at Monsanto Co's vegetable seed company in California that developed a new genetically modified sweet corn that will hit stores this fall. The protesters, who want to remove all so-called genetically modified organisms (GMOs) from the food supply, say their action is a preview of about five dozen other events planned for countries around the world next week.

A U.S. farmer group said on Tuesday it is dropping its opposition to efforts by Dow AgroSciences to roll out a new biotech crop system in exchange for a series of commitments by Dow, including help investigating any accidental crop damage. The deal calls for "several new safeguards" from Dow AgroSciences related to use of a reformulated herbicide and biotech crops that Dow has engineered to be used with the herbicide, and could help speed regulatory approval for the unit of Dow Chemical.

Shares of Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, rose on Thursday and DuPont shares fell after Monsanto won a $1 billion victory over its archrival in a lawsuit concerning patents in the agricultural seed market. The victory, which dealt with genetically modified seeds that allow crops to tolerate weed killer, should have little immediate impact in that lucrative marketplace. But it underscores Monsanto's dominance over popular seed technology and could slow DuPont's advancement, analysts said.

Efforts to write benefits for biotech seed companies into U.S. legislation, including the 2013 Farm Bill, are sparking a backlash from groups that say the multiple measures would severely limit U.S. oversight of genetically modified crops. From online petitions to face-to-face lobbying on Capitol Hill, an array of consumer and environmental organizations and individuals are ringing alarm bells over moves they say will eradicate badly needed safety checks on crops genetically modified to withstand herbicides, pests and pesticides.

Ranchers are rushing to sell off some of their cattle as the worst drought in nearly 25 years dries up pastures, thins hay supplies and sends feed costs sky-rocketing. The more desperate in the Midwest are hauling water into areas where creeks have run dry and are scrambling to secure scarce and high-priced hay to keep their cattle fed and watered. But some are giving up, or are about to.