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A fast-spreading plague of "super weeds" taking over U.S. farmland will not be stopped easily, and farmers and government officials need to change existing practices if food production is to be protected, industry experts said on Thursday. "This is a complex problem," said weed scientist David Shaw in remarks to a national "summit" of weed experts in Washington to come up with a plan to battle weeds that have developed resistance to herbicides.

A California initiative to require labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients appeared headed for the ballot in November after organizers said on Wednesday they had gathered nearly 1 million signatures in favor of the measure. The hotly contested proposal is similar to measures being pushed in other U.S. states and at the federal level as GMO opponents demand more transparency in food products.

Investor interest in agriculture is continuing to rise and investment experts expect to double assets under management in the next three years, according to a survey. But several factors, including the lack of transparency of this still-emerging asset class, are making some investors skittish. "That is one of the main issues," said Bill Kiernan, director of research for global agriculture investment at consulting firm HighQuest Partners.

Opponents of a new biotech corn variety developed by Dow AgroSciences are making a final push to get U.S. regulators to reject Dow's application to roll out herbicide-tolerant crops that critics believe will wreak havoc on the environment and endanger human health. Farmers, scientists and consumer groups scheduled a news conference on Thursday to urge U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to shut down Dow's regulatory application for a multi-crop project it calls "Enlist."

A new biotech corn developed by Dow AgroSciences could answer the prayers of U.S. farmers plagued by a fierce epidemic of super-weeds. Or it could trigger a flood of dangerous chemicals that may make weeds even more resistant and damage other important U.S. crops. Or, it could do both.

A coalition of more than 2,000 U.S. farmers and food companies said Wednesday it is taking legal action to force government regulators to analyze potential problems with proposed biotech crops and the weed-killing chemicals to be sprayed over them. Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical, and Monsanto Co. are among several global chemical and seed companies racing to roll out combinations of genetically altered crops and new herbicides designed to work with the crops as a way to counter rapidly spreading herbicide-resistant weeds that are choking millions of acres of U.S. farmland.

A plan to speed up processing lines at U.S. chicken and turkey plants while cutting the ranks of government inspectors at the plants is prompting a backlash from consumer groups and food safety advocates who say unsafe poultry will go undetected. Several groups have demanded the U.S. Department of Agriculture revamp the program, which the government calls the "modernization of poultry slaughter inspection" act, and this week one launched an online petition to try to overturn the plan.

Global agribusiness company Monsanto Co posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, as the company said early U.S. spring planting and a 15 percent sales jump boosted its full-year outlook. Shares sagged after an early jump amid a general market slump and as the company said results for the second half of the year would likely be flat.

A group of U.S. family farmers said on Wednesday it is appealing its lawsuit against Monsanto Co to challenge the company's patents on technologies for genetically modified seeds. The group of organic farmers and seed dealers says its industry is at risk from Monsanto's growing market dominance.

Critics of genetically modified crops are making new demands for government mandated labeling to identify foods on grocer shelves that contain ingredients from transgenic corn, soybeans and other crops. Labeling drives are underway on both state and federal levels, and on Tuesday several U.S. consumer groups released a survey and results of a petition drive that they say shows overwhelming consumer support for labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMO).