Tim Burrack, a northern Iowa farmer in his 44th growing season, has taken to keeping a wary eye out for unfamiliar vehicles around his 300 acres of genetically modified corn seeds.
Along with other farmers in this vast agricultural region, he has upped his vigilance ever since Mo Hailong and six other Chinese were accused by U.S. authorities in 2013 of digging up seeds from Iowa farms and planning to send them back to China.
The case, in which Mo pleaded guilty in January, has laid bare the value — and vulnerability — of advanced food technology in a world with 7 billion mouths to feed, 1.36 billion of them Chinese.