Saffron, vanilla, palm oil, cacao and cottonseed oil crops are still picked by hand in some parts of the world. Sometimes that manual labor shows up in the price of the food; sometimes it doesn't.

Over the past 15 years, farmers around the world have planted ever larger tracts of genetically engineered crops. According to the USDA, in 2012 more than 93 percent of soy planted was "herbicide ...

Farmers used to plant "cover crops" to rejuvenate fields in the off season. As those were replaced with chemicals, the soil of America's farms suffered. Bringing back the old practice has ...

Bt crops brought a two-fold benefit: Cotton and corn farmers didn't need to use so many chemicals to control the bollworm and related pests after they were released, starting in 1996. "Our ...

A field planted with cereal rye, one of the most common cover crops in Iowa. Photo by Ally Larson/Iowa State University. AMES, Iowa – Planting ground cover in fields between cash crop growing seasons ...

In this article, we will look into the 15 countries that produce the most genetically modified crops. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to the 5 Countries That Produce ...

Editor’s Note: Robert Frank, who recently guest-blogged for several weeks here at the Business Desk with answers to some of life’s economic ironies, once again answers questions posed by viewers.

5 climate-resilient crops that impressed. There was so much to enjoy and unlock from the Garden of the Future, but I want to highlight some climate-resilient crops that stood out to me, as they ...