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GMO crops continue to catch on with farmersOntario farmers are finding GMO useful tools and their acreage is steadily increasing. But GMO seed is expensive and, says one farmer, more of the premium should stay in the pockets of the users by SUSAN MANN
After more than a decade in Canada, genetically modified crops continue to increase in popularity, while protests against the technology appear to have waned.
Quentin Martin, president of the Ontario Seed Growers’ Association (OSGA), which represents 1,400 certified seed growers in Ontario, started growing genetically modified corn in 1995 when it first became available.
Now, Martin would rather use a genetically modified hybrid rather than a conventional one because it means that he can eliminate sprays. That choice means “you’re only attacking the problem you’re after instead of wiping out a bunch of beneficials as well.”
“There has never been a technology more rapidly adopted in agriculture than biotechnology,” says Trish Jordan, director of public affairs for Monsanto Canada, a leading biotech crop company. She says that economic, agronomic and environmental benefits are driving interest and she believes that protests have died off because “we now have a 10-year history of safe use around biotech crops.”
Last year, genetically modified crops were grown by 8.5 million farmers in 21 countries around the world. That’s an 11 per cent increase over 2004 when 8.25 million farmers in 17 countries grew them, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). In Ontario, sixty-five per cent of the soybean acreage and 55 to 65 per cent of the corn acreage are genetically modified varieties.
Martin, who grows soybeans, oats, barley and corn to produce both seeds and whole-grain foods on his 1,500 acres west of Guelph, first jumped in because “we were involved with seed and wanted to be trying new stuff that was available at the time.” He started with just a few acres planted beside the same hybrid without the genetic modification to be able to make a comparison between the two.
Today, he picks his corn hybrids based on what problems he’s trying to solve in each field or on a particular market’s requirements, and not necessarily because they’re genetically modified. “We’ll pick the hybrid and its associated technologies to best fit with the situation in a field.”
Martin sees genetically modified crops as another tool that’s available to him. Before Bt corn became available, people weren’t spraying to control European corn borer. “We just accepted the damage. But it wasn’t until we had Bt corn that we realized that there probably had been a little more damage than we had realized in the past.”
This year, Martin says he’s seen a lot of damage in his area from corn rootworm. There are conventional options, such as using insecticide on the seed to control it. But he finds Bt corn for corn rootworm control more effective.
Crop rotation is another conventional way to control rootworm. It’s also the least expensive control method. But, explains Martin, “there are situations where corn after corn is necessary if you’re trying to utilize nutrients (such as nitrogen from manure).” He also tries to rotate his crops as much as possible.
Bob Misener, who farms with his brother Tom, has also been growing Bt corn for 10 years. He has 4,000 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, barley and red clover near Caledonia. Everything but corn at Misener Farms Ltd. is grown for seed.
In comparing Bt corn to non-Bt corn, Misener says they got three to 10 bushels more per acre because there wasn’t any damage to the cobs from European corn borer. It’s not a dramatic increase but, as long as there’s a threat of damage from corn borer, “you lose less if you grow Bt corn than you would with non-Bt corn.” And that’s why they keep growing it.
As for Roundup Ready soybeans, with 65 per cent of the Canadian crop being planted with Roundup Ready seed each year, Misener says that’s what they have to grow to service the market.
But he contends that the cost of the genetically-enhanced trait is too high. A 50-pound bag of non-genetically modified soybean seed is $20, while Roundup Ready seed costs $35 to $40. That increased cost isn’t recovered from the marketplace or in savings on herbicides.
Those growing Bt corn grown for rootworm or corn borer control must plant 20 per cent of their total acreage with non-Bt varieties in a “refuge” to help slow down or prevent the insects from becoming resistant.
On his 900-acre farm between Belleville and Kingston, Max Kaiser plants non-Bt corn within a quarter mile of every field that has Bt corn. But Max and his father, Eric, plant only the headlands with the non-Bt varieties. “It’s easy to do first and the headlands tend to be the lower yielding parts of the field anyway, because of turning when you’re planting and proximity to other crops or woodlands,” Kaiser reasons.
Ten years ago, Kaiser switched to genetically modified corn because losses from European corn borer outweighed the added costs of the new seed. In addition to corn, Kaiser grows wheat and Roundup Ready soybeans.
“Stacked” traits, a recently added tool, mean growers can plant corn seed that’s herbicide-tolerant and resistant to two pests -- corn rootworm and corn borer. Beginning next year, Ontario farmers will be able to grow Monsanto’s Vistive soybeans, which are low in transfat oil, and more new crop traits are in the research stage.
Martin says he’d rather grow crops that would generate a premium to the base commodity value despite the extra work of cleaning the combine, segregating the crop and keeping it in separate bins.
As for Misener, he wants premiums to stay in farmers’ pockets and “not (in those of) the company that makes the genetic modifications.” Another thing he’d like to see is corn that either makes its own nitrogen or doesn’t require expensive nitrogen to be added to the soil. Other traits that would be beneficial include higher yields and drought tolerance, plus more insect and disease resistance.
Anything that can give added value is welcome, says Kaiser, adding that this might mean taking the commodity off the open market and creating corns that are specifically designed for a particular use, such as ethanol.
But it doesn’t matter if the traits are derived from conventional plant breeding or genetic modifications, Martin notes. “I realize the rest of the world doesn’t agree with me on that, but I honestly believe it does not matter.”
BF © copyright 2006 AgMedia Inc..
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