GM Crops and the Farmer
Published on November 12, 2001

Acreage planted to transgenic crops in the U.S. has grown progressively since 1996. Lower input costs and fewer environmental impacts were the two most popular reasons farmers gave for switching to GM crops. In addition, farmers have said that GMOs help them to improve weed control, reduce herbicide and pesticide cost, improve grain quality, increase flexibility in planting and increase environmental-friendly practices on the farm.

The table above shows that GM crops, except for Bt corn, have increased over the past five years. The reduction in Bt corn planted, however, is attributed to very low levels of European corn borer infestation, which is the principal target of Bt varieties, in 1999.

Benefits

GM crops allow farmers to reduce pesticide manipulation in crop production. Reduction of pesticides both benefits the environment and prevents adverse health effects for farmers.

Traditional potato growers use a pesticide called methamidophos, a toxic organophosphate nerve poison, to control potato aphids. Inevitably, once a crop is sprayed, methamidophos runs off potato fields and leaks into nearby water sources. Agriculture runoff, such as methamidophos, significantly contributes to aquaculture contamination. In addition, in large dosages, methamidophos can cause serious nerve injuries among people exposed to it.

While methamidophos is a USEPA-approved pesticide, the EPA is presently reevaluating organophosphate use and plans to implement a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for pesticides, such as methamidophos, which contributes to agricultural runoff. TMDL will target non-point source pollution, agricultural runoff, as an approach to improve water quality under Section 303 of the Clean Water Act.

Catering to farmers' demands, Monsanto developed a potato containing a Bt gene to control the virus spread of aphids. Potato growers who planted NewLeaf are able to significantly reduce the application of pesticides on their crops. If you were a farmer, concerned about meeting environmental standards and health and safety of your farm labor, which would you choose?

StarLink corn is another example of a GM crop that helps farmers manage environmental standards. In 1999, U.S. legislatures were concerned that nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorous, from poultry waste (droppings) dumped on farmland was leaking into nearby water sources.

To help farmers manage nutrient runoff, StarLink corn was developed. StarLink, in feed combinations helps reduce the amount of phosphorous normally found in poultry droppings. Therefore, by including StarLink in poultry feed, farmers are better able to manage water contamination, by applying poultry droppings to their farmland at a rate at which the land can absorb phosphorus before it leaks into nearby water sources.

Drawbacks

Although there are health and environmental benefits associated with using GMO crops, there are also drawbacks for uninformed farmers.

It is often argued that using GMOs increases yields and farm revenue. However, research done by the University of Guelph in Canada shows, in the case of Bt-corn, that unless corn borer infestations are moderate/high, farmers have other, less costly, options besides Bt-corn, to increase their yields.

A 1998 Iowa crop survey, conducted by the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service as part of its annual Cost and Return survey interviewed 800 Iowa farmers. The survey represented a random selection of 377 cornfields and 365 soybean fields.

From the data collected, we can see that with soybeans, GM crop yields were lower, but so were costs. With corn, yields and costs were higher, however, returns were insufficient to cover the costs of acquiring GM seeds.

Based on 1998 results, Iowa farmers found returns per acre relatively unaffected whether or not they chose to plant GM corn and/or soybeans. Therefore, farmers who choose to use or not use GM crop varieties may be basing their decision on personal reasons, such as convenience. Profitability does not appear to be a decisive factor.

As consumer sentiments on GMOs grow internationally, it is expected that marketing GMO crops in the future may become more of a problem, however, to date using GMO crops has not affected profitability any more or less than using non-GMO crops.

Conclusion

It is surprising that the benefits associated with GM crops on a farm do not include increased yields or farm revenues, as I originally expected they would. Moreover, it seems that for the same reasons (e.g. safety, health, environment) that some consumers protest GM crops, many farmers favor them.

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