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Better Farming
January 2017
SHORT
TAKES
New study explores
implications of
potential GMO bans
Amidst some consumer fears of
genetically modified (GMO) crops, a
new study sheds more light on the
benefits of these crops.
Banning GMOs would cause food
costs to increase 0.27 to 3.30 per cent
globally, according to researchers at
Purdue University
. They predict
cropland would also have to increase
by 7.7 million acres to compensate for
lower yielding, conventional crops.
If other countries approved to
grow GMOs expanded their use of
the technology to match the rate of
cultivation in the United States,
global carbon dioxide emissions
would fall by 0.2 billion tonnes, the
study says.
These benefits follow the same
trends seen in Canada, according to
Ian Affleck
, executive director of
plant biotechnology for
CropLife
Canada
.
“Without the use of plant science
innovations in Canada, consumers
would pay around 55 per cent more
for their groceries,” Affleck says.
Canadian “farmers would (also)
need to use 50 per cent more land
than they do today to produce the
same amount of food.
“GMOs support more sustainable
operations. Farmers can grow their
crops with less water, land, and fuel.
“GMOs are another tool in the
toolbox as farmers figure out the best
strategy for their farms,” he says.
The Purdue
study was pub-
lished in the
October issue
of
of the
Journal
of Environmental
Protection
.
BF
Zone tillage is growing increasingly
popular as farmers continue to
pursue sustainability, as well as
time- and labour-saving practices.
Chris Heinrich
, co-operator of
southwestern Ontario’s
Heinrich
Farms
, says the operation’s first full
year using zone tillage was a
successful one.
After sixteen months of zone till
on 1,800 acres, Heinrich Farms saw
improved soil structure in the
places it had zone tilled last fall.
“We figured we had some
compaction issues in the field,”
Heinrich says, “so hopefully the
zone tillage also helps with that as
(this tillage method) allows for
more controlled traffic in the field.”
Having previously used both
conventional tillage and other types
of conservation tillage, Heinrich
says that before the operation
invested in its equipment it hired a
custom operator to zone till some of
the land. “Something we didn’t
think about as much is that you
need very skilled labour to operate
this machinery properly,” Heinrich
reflects. “Before, we could put
pretty much anybody on a tractor
that can pull a cultivator.”
While a benefit to zone tillage is
fewer hours on the tractor during
planting season, Heinrich Farms
spent more time spraying herbi-
cides with the new tillage method to
address perennial weed pressure.
Heinrich is confident the opera-
tion saw a yield bump after zone
tillage and it certainly didn’t see any
decline in yield for soybeans and
edible beans.
“I guess to get a more accurate
answer, we’ll have to do it a couple
more years, but we’re pleased with
zone tillage and we’re going to keep
doing it.”
BF
A farmer’s reflection on zone tillage
bergamont/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo
Kaitlin Packer photo