American Farmers Just Love Their GMOs and You Should Too

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has
released its latest data on farmers planting of crops
genetically enhanced to tolerate herbicides (HT) crops and to
resist insect pests (Bt).

HT soybeans went from 17 percent of U.S. soybean acreage to 94
percent in 2014. Plantings of HT cotton expanded from about 10
percent of U.S. acreage in 1997 to 91 percent in 2014. The adoption
of HT corn reached 89 percent of U.S. corn acreage in 2014.

Plantings of Bt corn grew from about 8 percent of U.S. corn
acreage in 1997 to 80 percent in 2014. Plantings of Bt cotton also
expanded rapidly, from 15 percent of U.S. cotton acreage in 1997 to
84 percent in 2014.

See the chart below for the trends.

Why are modern biotech crops so popular with farmers?

Earlier this year, U.S. News
reported the views of Illinois farmer Katie Pratt:

According to Pratt, her family uses GMO crops because of the
clear value they bring to their family business. They have
greatly reduced the amount of insecticide that needs to be sprayed,
and they only need to treat the weeds at one point, not several
times over a growing season. Her soil has now improved, because she
and her family don’t have to tromp through the fields as often. The
family also uses less fuel, because they spend less time in the
tractor. “No one is more aware than the farmer of the impact
we have on the environment, in addition to the urgency to feed and
fuel a growing population, while
reducing our footprint on the planet,” she maintains.

And remember folks, biotech crops are not only good for the
environment, eating them as caused not so much as a cough, sniffle,
sneeze or bellyache. For example, a statement issued by the Board
of Directors of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest
scientific organization in the United States, on October 20, 2012
point blank asserted that “contrary to popular misconceptions, GM
[genetically modified] crops are the most extensively tested crops
ever added to our food supply. There are occasional claims that
feeding GM foods to animals causes aberrations ranging from
digestive disorders, to sterility, tumors and premature death.
Although such claims are often sensationalized and receive a great
deal of media attention, none have stood up to rigorous scientific
scrutiny.” The AAAS Board concluded, “Indeed, the science is quite
clear: crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of
biotechnology is safe.”