Being a farmer is no longer just about planting seeds and tilling soil. That's because genetically-modified crops and even some agricultural techniques are patented, and farmers must now understand the law as well as the land.

As the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments this week on a case involving an Indiana farmer and Monsanto, we'll focus this week's Noon Edition on how the patenting of agricultural technologies has changed the landscape of farming in the U.S. and abroad.

Join us Friday at 12 p.m. for our conversation, and send us your questions in advance to noon@indiana.edu. You can visit this site to be part of our live chat, follow us on Twitter @NoonEdition, or join us on the air by calling in at 812-855-0811 or 1-877-285-WFIU.

Guests

Michael Mattioli- Associate Professor, IU Maurer School of Law

Jeremy Bright- Soybean grower in Martinsville, Indiana

Heath Gardner- Area manager at Pioneer Hi-Bred International

Web Extra

Producer Gretchen Frazee spoke with Al Gore about his new book and the relationship between U.S. farming and big agriculture technology companies. Many farmers in Indiana use GMO seeds, and non-GMO products can be hard to find. She asked him what effect the prevalence of GMO seeds has on the farm economy.

https://soundcloud.com/juliemarierawe-1/algore-gmo-and-monsanto

Al Gore says, even though there are still many climate change detractors, he believes signs of those changes are all around us. Gore remains optimistic that as people start to feel the effects of climate change in their daily lives, more people will believe that the changes are real.

https://soundcloud.com/juliemarierawe-1/al-gore-on-climate-change

By clicking the link at the top of the page, you can listen back to our full Noon Edition conversation about GMO products and agricultural patents.