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Heavy advertising spending by Monsanto Co and others opposed to a California ballot proposal to require labels on grocery products containing genetically modified organisms is paying off, according to a new poll that shows the measure has slipped into a virtual tie. Forty-four percent of California voters now support the measure, while 42 percent oppose it and 13 percent are undecided, according to the latest USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll released on Thursday.

More investment is needed to increase food production in Africa and Asia as rising demand and scarce resources leave millions of people vulnerable to hunger, a corporate-backed report said on Wednesday. Only 13 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa's total food demand in 2050 would be met without more investment in such things as technology and infrastructure, according to the Global Harvest Initiative public policy advocacy group in Washington. East Asia would be able to satisfy 74 percent of total food demand by 2050, the group's third annual report said.

With California set to vote in November on labeling of food made from genetically modified crops, pressure is mounting on the federal government to tighten regulation of these crops and the foods they become. The "Right to Know" measure on California's ballot November 6 would require labeling of any food sold in the state containing ingredients made from genetically modified crops (GMOs). If the measure passes, it would be the first such U.S. labeling law, and so far polls have shown strong support for the measure.

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.