March 30, 2016 | Genetic Literacy Project
I live and farm alongside my boyfriend who is a fifth generation farmer. I find myself constantly having to defend modern agriculture. There are a lot of opinions on the Internet, but sometimes it feels like farmers are the last people asked about farming. How does that make sense? You go to your doctor for medical advice, your lawyer for legal advice, your mechanic for car advice… Doesn’t it make sense to go to farmers to find out what’s really going on on our farms?
There’s one topic in agriculture that I think is exceptionally riddled with myths, and that’s genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. We grow corn and soybeans and have been doing so for over 150 years as a family. We see firsthand the benefits of GMOs. Over 90 percent of farmers have been using this technology for decades. Why do you suppose that is?
No, it’s not because we are forced to. No, it’s not a conspiracy. No, we aren’t using more chemicals than ever before. These myths, repeatedly endlessly by critics of GMOs, are just not true. The reason why 90 percent of American farmers have embraced ag biotechnology is because it has substantially reduced our carbon footprint, while improving yields, farmer safety, and the environment at the same. It’s brilliant technology, really.
The term “GMO” covers a broad spectrum of benefits, but for our corn and soybean farm it breaks down to a few key ones:
1) Much safer herbicide products to control weeds
2) No-till farming, crop rotation, cover crops keep carbon in the soil and conserves organic matter which further protects the topsoil.
3) Practically eliminates the need for insecticides....
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