Letters to the Editor

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To the Editor:

American farmers are caught in a global squeeze, but investment in agricultural biotechnology offers an opportunity to break free and lead.

These farmers, already struggling under the weight of a steep downturn in the domestic agriculture economy, once again find themselves conscripted into a U.S. trade war with China and others that is closing off some of their top markets abroad. Biotechnology breakthroughs are poised to help them -- and the nation itself -- emerge from this double whammy stronger and more prosperous than ever. But farmers need dedicated investments and thoughtful policy support from leaders in Washington to pull off the recovery.

The innovation powering this opportunity is arriving at a prime moment. Decades of biotechnology research, and some false starts, are finally bearing fruit as a number of American entrepreneurs now stand on the threshold of delivering gamechangers in a field known as plant molecular farming. The discipline applies genetic engineering to transform crops into organic factories producing valuable proteins, enzymes and other molecules for use in food, pharmaceuticals and beyond. Picture soybeans, outwardly indistinguishable from the commodity crop American farmers have cultivated for centuries, that within their pods are manufacturing prized ingredients for making non-dairy cheese or novel biodegradable materials.

The economics of molecular farming are as revolutionary as the science behind it. American food producers, drugmakers and other end users of these products stand to achieve massive savings by replacing suppliers that rely on capital and resource-intensive industrial processes for their manufacturing. One recent study (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/…) found pharmaceutical companies could achieve a tenfold reduction in the cost of antibodies for a lymphoma treatment by producing them in plants. Farmers, meanwhile, will see large gains from crops they are growing on the same land with many of the same methods they have always employed. For example, a soybean farmer with 500 acres can expect to pocket more than $51,000 in extra profit from cultivating a value-added variety that produces heart-healthy oil, according to another recent study (https://www.frontiersin.org/…).

The shift from commodity agriculture to value-added production also achieves two national security imperatives at once, insulating farmers from punishing exposure to foreign markets while helping reshore critical supply chains for domestic manufacturing.

Historically, American farmers have depended on exports, with the U.S. exporting about half of its soybeans, wheat, and rice, and 70% of its cotton. In 2023, agricultural exports totaled more than $178 billion, with soybeans alone contributing over $27 billion. Yet as our farmers are experiencing firsthand, this export-dependent model leaves our agricultural economy vulnerable to market fluctuations and geopolitical landscapes beyond our control.

China, for one, has dramatically increased soybean imports from Brazil, which have surged by over 30% since 2018. China has also invested billions in domestic agricultural production and alternative protein research. As a recent report from the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology warned: "China is using every tool at its disposal to replace the United States as the global leader in biotechnology." The regime's strategy, the report continued, "is to make its firms less dependent on the world, and the world more dependent on them. And it is succeeding."

Perhaps most concerning is China's weaponization of its regulatory system, delaying approvals for American-developed seeds, which in turn puts commercialization of those products on hold around the world. China also requires excessively large sample sizes of products, accelerating its ability to steal U.S. intellectual property.

Building a resilient and secure domestic food and agricultural system requires rethinking our agricultural supply chains. Identity preservation and closed-loop supply chains -- where specialized crops are kept separate from commodity streams -- will be essential to fully realize the potential of these innovations.

Such a shift also requires investment in infrastructure, such as specialized storage facilities, processing plants, and transportation networks. The federal government should help finance this transition through direct investment, loan guarantees, and tax policy changes. Now is the time.

With the agricultural landscape evolving rapidly, we need a comprehensive strategy to transform American agriculture into a diversified, value-added sector serving multiple markets. Given the right tools and market certainty, American farmers can lead the world in developing and growing the next generation of agricultural products. By investing in agricultural biotechnology and value-added products, we can create a more independent, stable future for American farmers -- one that aligns with our national interest in security, self-sufficiency, and domestic economic strength.

Kristin Bresnahan,

Agriculture and biotechnology policy expert

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