The road leading to the future of genetic modification in agriculture is rife with potholes, blind corners and off-ramps.

Plant genetics is an area that presents multiple challenges to researchers, companies, farmers and consumers. It is complicated by a variety of factors, including profitability, environmental opposition and public perception.

The potential may be unlimited when it comes to gene editing technology, but for the time being, most of that potential remains unrealized in the U.S.

“It’s still restricted to research for now,” says Matt Spangler, Extension beef genetics specialist with the University of Nebraska. “Gene-edited animals fall under the control of FDA, and they view this just like they view a new drug, which means in order for these animals to enter the food chain, they need to go through all the regulatory hurdles, and that makes it cost-prohibitive.”

Bob Hemesath has used GMO products on his farm near Decorah in Northeast Iowa for close to 20 years.

“GMO products have been an integral part of our farm operation,” he says. “We use them on just about all our acres … They have enabled us to use practices like no-till and minimum-till and cover crops.”

COLUMBIA, Mo. — On research farms around the Midwest and at the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, researchers continue to work to find new crop technology, new ways to grow better crops and even methods to grow the markets for those crops.

Greg Luce is the Missouri Soybean Association’s director of research and superintendent for the association’s Bay Farm Research Facility, which is located east of Columbia in Boone County. On a sunny mid-June day, researchers were working to finish up soybean planting, which had been delayed by wet weather. Among other things, Luce says the Bay Farm includes work on the University of Missouri’s north Missouri soybean breeding program, and the facility has both test plots and a laboratory. Composition testing at the lab helped researchers identify desired traits to produce new high-oleic soybeans.