Dive Brief:
- Australian and Chinese researchers have uncovered a soybean gene that could make the crop more tolerant of soil salinity.
- Because commercial soybean crops are often sensitive to soil salinity, many are lost each year.
- This research is especially promising for soybean farmers as the amount of agricultural land affected by high soil salinity is predicted to double in the next 35 years.
Dive Insight:
Monsanto is a big name in soybeans, and just last week it announced earnings that topped analysts' predictions, namely due to high sales of soybeans that made up for "a weaker corn market." Monsanto also recently announced that it will begin selling a new breed of GMO soybean seeds in 2016, though some suggest this may not have much of an effect on the food supply.