BT corn farmers plan steps to protect crops
by
Jordan Shefte
Story Created:
Dec 29, 2011 at 6:57 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Dec 29, 2011 at 7:38 PM CDT
A hybrid corn strain called BT corn initially seemed like a farmers dream. But it may be turning out to be a nightmare. BT corn was created by genetically modifying the corn to protect it from pests.
But now, it appears that rootworms are becoming immune to it, and the strain could be losing its' effectiveness.
News 5's Jordan Shefte talked with some people in the corn industry Thursday. Could this immunity cause problems to the US corn supply?
For right now, it does not seem like much of a threat because the immune rootworms have remained pretty isolated.
None of the farmers that News 5 spoke with Thursday have had any problems with the rootworms. But they said that the immunity is probably inevitable.
65 percent of all US corn acres are planted with BT corn - a genetically engineered crop that makes it's own insecticide.
"BT corn was created to protect the plant during a growing season from insects that may damage the crop," said Pioneer Sales Representative Seth Andersen.
Scientists were hoping to outsmart Mother Nature with this hybrid, but now, she's fighting back.
"The bugs are beginning to adapt to what we're doing, so it's just a product of evolution," said farmer Randy Uhrmacher.
But as long as technology keeps advancing, we shouldn't be faced with a corn Armageddon.
"That's why they're coming out with new protein strains to counter you know any of the adaptation that the bugs may be getting," said Uhrmacher.
For corn farmers, one of the most important aspects to keeping the BT strains effective is planting a refuge crop.
"Making sure that not all acres are planted to a Bt hybrid, and that you have a refuge out there that you have a population of insects that actually survive so when the do mate with the other insects that you're not passing that resistance on to the other offspring," Andersen said.
But that's not the only step that can be made to protect your crop.
"Do some crop rotation, if you know you've got a problem, maybe put some insecticide down to slow down the bug, there's multiple things we could do and we just have to keep switching them up so the bugs, we stay one step ahead of the bugs," said Uhrmacher.
Right now, the rootworm crop damage has only appeared in four Midwestern states: Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Nebraska.
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