Farmers To Boost Plantings Of Gene-Altered Crops, USDA Says

[geno@zap.a2000.nl]

On 1 Apr 2001, at 1:50, chris@igc.org wrote:

Biotech Activists (biotech_activists@iatp.org)    Posted: 
03/31/2001 
By  chris@igc.org	
=================================================
===========




                        Farmers To Boost Plantings Of Gene-Altered
Crops, USDA Says Date Published/ Released
                        03/30/2001
Summary
                        In the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
                        
annual survey of farmers' planting intentions, the USDA found 
farmers
will boost their plantings of genetically engineered crops this year.
In particular, the survey shows about 63 percent of this year's
soybean crop, up from 54 percent in 2000, is expected to be
genetically engineered. The report also confirmed that farmers are
cutting back on overall corn acreage largely because of higher 
energy
and fertilizer prices and switching to soybeans. The article notes
that most U.S. grown corn and soybeans are consumed 
domestically.
Wheat acreageis estimated at 60.3 million, a 4 percent reduction 
from
2000 and the lowest level since 1973. Source
                        Associated Press
Author
                        Philip Brasher
Submitted By
                        Corrina Steward

Link to Story
Main Body
                        WASHINGTON (AP) - Farmers will sharply boost
their plantings of
                        genetically engineered crops this year, 
despite opposition to
                        biotechnology overseas and signs of unease
among U.S. consumers, the
                        government said Friday.

                        About 63 percent of this year's soybean crop,
or about 48 million acres,
                        is expected to be genetically engineered, up
from 54 percent in 2000,
                        according to the Agriculture Department's
annual survey of farmers'
                        planting intentions. The biotech soy is immune
                        
to a popular weedkiller.


                        Nearly two-thirds of the this year's cotton
crop also is expected to be of
                        biotech varieties.
                        About 24 percent of the 2001 corn crop will be
                        
genetically engineered,
                        compared to 25 percent last year, USDA said.

                        The biotech industry was embarrassed last year
                        
when a gene-altered variety
                        of corn, known as StarLink, was found in the
food supply without being
                        cleared for human consumption.

                        StarLink, one of the least used of the various
                        
biotech corn varieties, has
                        been withdrawn from the market. But farmers
are concerned that stray seeds
                        from last year's StarLink crop may sprout in
their fields and have been
                        encouraged to plant biotech soybeans on that
acreage. Any wild StarLink
                        plants will die when the genetically modified
soybeans is treated with
                        herbicide.

                        Although there is strong resistance to biotech
                        
food in Europe and Japan,
                        most U.S.-grown corn and soybeans are consumed
                        
domestically.

                        Yield-robbing weeds have long been a problem
for soybean growers, so
                        development of the biotech varieties has made
it much easier to grow the
                        crop. Sixty-four percent of the cotton that
farmers will plant this
                        spring, or slightly under 10 million acres, is
                        
expected to be biotech,
                        USDA said. Biotech cotton is either resistant
to insect pests or
                        herbicides, or both.

                        The USDA report also confirmed that farmers
are cutting back on overall
                        corn acreage this year largely because of
higher energy and fertilizer
                        prices and switching to soybeans.

                        Farmers are expected to grow about 76.7 
million acres of both crops this
                        year. That would represent a decrease of 4
percent in corn plantings from
                        last year and a 3 percent increase for
                        soybeans.

                        In Iowa, which ranks No. 1 in both corn and
soybeans, farmers will plant
                        an estimated 11.9 million acres of corn this
year, down from 12.3 million
                        in 2000. They are increasing their soybean
acreage from 10.7 million to 11
                        million.

                        This year's wheat acreage is estimated at 60.3
                        
million, a 4 percent
                        reduction from 2000 and the lowest level since
                        
1973. Production of
                        spring-planted varieties, however, is expected
                        
to increase, with acreage
                        of 15.5 million, up 2 percent from 2000. Most
wheat is planted in the
                        fall.

                        This year's cotton acreage is estimated at
15.6 million, an increase of
                        less than 1 percent from 2000.
------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Desser
Funders Working Group on Emerging Technologies
2151 Pacific Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94115
415-561-2627
chris@igc.org



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