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Ontario farmers quickly adopting herbicide resistant soybeans (Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2002 -- CropChoice news) --
George Morris Centre News Release, 09/10/2002, via AgNet:
(GUELPH, ON) - The rising trend of adopting herbicide-tolerant (HT) soybeans
and environmentally friendly no-till practices is documented in a new report
by the George Morris Centre.
The study, surveying 352 Ontario soybean growers on their cropping
practices, found that 30 percent of Ontario's soybean acreage was planted to
HT seed in 2001. The new technology makes good economic and environmental
sense, because producers report making 1.7 fewer field passes than they did
three years ago.
Put into the context of the 2002 soybean crop, farmers continue to vote with
their seeders. Adoption rates have increased again from 30 percent in 2001
to an estimated 40 to 45 percent of 2002 soybean acreage.
HT seed is part of a major shift in growing soybeans. The seed is
genetically modified to tolerate the herbicide glyphosate. This means that
farmers can spray glyphosate over an emerging soybean crop to kill weeds
without damaging the crop. The genetically modified seed can be sown with
no-till equipment which makes a small slice in the soil and drops seed into
crop residue from the previous year. This system makes moldboard ploughing
unnecessary, a process which makes soil more vulnerable to erosion and
requires more fuel use.
"Our study also found a positive correlation between size of operation and
the adoption of HT seed and no-till practices," says Cher Brethour, lead
researcher for the George Morris Centre. "Larger farm operations with gross
farm income of more than $200,000 tend to use more HT soybeans, use better
conservation tillage practices and leave more crop residue on the land."
The leaders of the Chatham-based Ontario Soybean Growers have tracked
similar statistics. "The study clearly shows that glyphosate-tolerant
soybeans are an important tool for farmers who have adopted environmentally
friendly no-till production practices," says Liam McCreery, chair of Ontario
Soybean Growers. "With no-till production, farmers are burning less fuel.
That reduces carbon dioxide emissions into the air. At the same time, soil
quality is improved because there is less soil erosion. No-till also saves
the farmer time during the busy planting season and saves money on fuel and
through less wear and tear on equipment. It's clearly a win-win situation
for the farmer and the environment."
The report - authored by Brethour along with Al Mussell, Holly Mayer and
Larry Martin of the Centre - concludes that the 2002 US Farm Bill will
continue to pressure Ontario soybean growers on competitive market prices.
Obvious gains with one product or technology may be offset in any particular
year by planting decisions cued by the markets. This means that genetically
enhanced seed must deliver economic benefits that equal or surpass specialty
markets that will continue to develop in the future.
The complete report, "Agronomic, Economic and Environmental Impacts of the
Commercial Cultivation of Glyphosate-Tolerant Soybeans in Ontario" is
available from the Centre's web site at http://www.georgemorris.org. The study was
commissioned by the Council for Biotechnology Information. | |
