Corn pest group urges refuge compliance

Thursday, May 21, 2009

© AgMedia Inc.

by SUSAN MANN

A group of corn pest management experts are encouraging farmers to comply with insect resistance management requirements.

Repeat offenders using Monsanto products could face audits and even the possibility of not being allowed to buy those products in the future, says a company representative. 

A Canadian Corn Pest Coalition commissioned survey indicates 2007 corn pest management compliance rates in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba have dropped to 67.8 per cent from 84.5 per cent in 2003. That same survey indicates 89.9 per cent of farmers planted non-Bt corn near or in the same field as Bt-corn in 2007.

The coalition is renewing a campaign launched last year that promotes compliance with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s insect resistance management requirements.

The requirements include record keeping, field scouting and planting a non-Bt corn refuge on at least 20 per cent of a farmer’s total corn acreage. The refuge helps prevent the development of resistance to European corn borer and corn rootworm.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s 2008 compliance audit indicates the total number of Canadian growers who planted a refuge increased to 93 per cent in 2008 compared to 91 per cent in 2005, says Krista Thomas, an Agency spokesperson. But the percentage of growers who planted the correct minimum-sized refuge decreased to 82 per cent in 2008 from 94 per cent in 2005.

Crosby Devitt, research and innovation manager for Ontario corn, soybean and wheat commodity groups, says it’s important to monitor the decline in compliance. “But I don’t think we have a train wreck.”

He says the drop could partly be attributed to the logistics of planting. Another part could be some farmers failing to understand the importance of planting the minimum area of non-Bt corn.

Tracey Baute, OMAFRA field crop entomologist, says declining compliance could also be due to an influx of farmers who hadn’t grown corn in a while then grew it to capitalize on 2007-08 corn prices. Those farmers may not have experience with Bt corn requirements.

She says it’s more important now that farmers comply with the minimum refuge requirements because of the growing availability of seeds with “stacked traits” – ones that control both corn borer and rootworm. “That’s putting both insects at risk.” 

Seed companies and others will be monitoring compliance this year. It’s up to seed companies to ensure farmers both know about the requirements and follow them.

Mike Nailor, Monsanto Company trait marketing lead, says refuge declines are concerning “because we do invest so much money into these technologies and we want them to be available for farmers in the long term.”

Monsanto annually field scouts farmers in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba planting its Bt corn seeds. The company does about 200 field audits a year.

During the course of its audits, Monsanto has found most plant the right amount of refuge and “in the proper configurations,” Nailor says.

If Monsanto finds a farmer who hasn’t planted a refuge, it issues a letter and audits the farmer the following year. If a farmer doesn’t plant the refuge the next year, “then we’ll withhold the sale of our technology,” Nailor says, adding this has not happened in Canada. BF