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California voters rejected a ballot measure that would have made the state the first in the nation to require special labeling of foods with genetically modified ingredients. The measure was defeated 53 percent to 47 percent, according to final results from Tuesday's election. Proposition 37, also known as the "Right to Know" initiative, was supported by more than 60 percent of likely voters in early polls. It sprang from a grass-roots effort in a state that has long led the way on a variety of environmental issues and has a growing organic and "local food" movement.

Major food and seed companies appear to be on the verge of defeating a California ballot initiative that, if passed on Tuesday, would create the first labeling requirement for genetically modified foods in the United States. In a campaign reminiscent of this summer's successful fight against a proposed tobacco tax in California, opposition funded by Monsanto Co, DuPont, PepsiCo Inc and others unleashed waves of TV and radio advertisements against Proposition 37 and managed to turn the tide of public opinion.

The U.S. seed industry said Wednesday it was a step closer to establishing a broad framework for the handling of genetically modified seed technology as product patents expire. The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) said they have completed the first phase of an industry accord that addresses post-patent, single-trait seed biotechnology.

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.