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A group of U.S. seed, chemical and equipment companies will invest at least $150 million over the next few years into African agricultural projects and products, the companies said on Friday. The investments pledged by DuPont, Monsanto, Cargill and others are part of an overall $3 billion effort by companies around the world announced by President Barack Obama. Along with companies from India, Israel, Switzerland, Norway and the United Kingdom, and 20 companies from Africa, the corporations have committed some $3 billion for projects to help farmers in the developing world build local markets and improve productivity.

George Siemon has milk on his mind. "Grassmilk" to be specific. As the co-founder and chief executive for Organic Valley, a La Farge, Wisconsin-based cooperative that is the largest provider of organic milk in the United States, Siemon is on the hunt for new offerings for a growing market. The latest idea - milk from cows that primarily eat grasses, but never corn, soybeans or other supplemental grains commonly fed to dairy and beef cattle - was launched in April and is available in 200 stores in six western U.S. states. The milk has an earthy flavor that is a twist for the milk market.

Financial services group TIAA-CREF, which is a major agricultural investor, said on Monday it is partnering with Canadian and European money managers to form a $2 billion global farmland investing company to capitalize on the growing demand for grains and other agricultural products. U.S.-based TIAA-CREF, which also provides retirement services and has about $487 billion in assets under management, said it and several international institutional investors had $2 billion in commitments to invest in farmland in the United States, Australia and Brazil, all key grain exporters.

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.