With anti-GMO protestors mak­­ing a lot of noise in Des Moines during the World Food Prize celebration, farmers and their supporters strongly pushed back last week. They defended biotech crops as safe and well-tested tools that are helping American consumers and the environment, as well as all types of farmers who grow them.

"This technology has shown very concrete benefits, and the perils that opponents talk about are only theoretical," Gary Munkvold, an Iowa State University (ISU) seed science professor, said during a panel discussion about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) at the Iowa State Historical Museum.

Biotech became a flashpoint in the 2013 World Food Prize celebration because this year’s laureates — Marc Van Montagu, Mary-Dell Chilton and Robert Fraley — are leaders in...