 |
| Small farmers and public health advocates are protesting the USDA's expected approval of Dow's new genetically engineered corn, which is bred to be resistant to 2, 4-D, arguing it will lead to an increased use of the herbicide -- one of the active ingredients in Agent Orange. |
RELATED ARTICLES
- Farmers, Scientists Protest USDA Approval Of Dow's 'Agent Orange Corn'
- Superweeds May Lead Farmers to Use '2, 4-D' Herbicide Found in Agent Orange
- Monsanto Bt Crops: Genetically Modified Corn Linked To Soil Ecosystem Threat
As the U.S. Department of Agriculture readies its decision on whether to approve for widespread use Dow Chemical Co.'s (NYSE: DOW) new genetically engineered corn, the chemical company is touting a broad coalition of support among farmers to increase the likelihood that the agency approves the product.
Dow is
taking this step to counter claims that the new corn, called Enlist, could
encourage the use of a powerful herbicide found in the Vietnam War defoliant
Agent Orange, because Enlist is designed to be resistant to this chemical.
Enlist's opponents say that if this herbicide is more widely employed, the
environment and public health would be endangered. More than 140 agricultural,
consumer, environmental and public-health groups sent USDA Secretary Tom
Vilsack a letter, which was signed by 365,000 people last month urging him to
reject the crop.
In response
to an article we ran in late April about this campaign, Dow dismissed as "hyperbole"
criticism surrounding Enlist. The company said the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency determined 2, 4-D (the Agent Orange herbicide) poses "a
reasonable certainty of no harm," and that, in fact, a different chemical,
2,4,5-T, is the principal contaminant in Agent Orange.
"The
surest way to increase per acre herbicide volume is to do nothing to solve the
weed resistance problem," Dow wrote. "Returning to agriculture as it
was 20 years ago ... will merely force farmers into additional cultivation
connected with increasing erosion, agricultural runoff, soil compaction and
fuel use with attendant contributions to air pollution."
To bolster
its position, Dow sent us a list of "mainstream agricultural
organizations" that the company said concur with its assessment. In a
letter sent to the USDA, these groups insisted that further evaluations of 2,
4-D would disrupt the agricultural industry and deny "valuable tools to
U.S. farmers by requiring costly and unwarranted environmental reviews."
While Dow has
publicized this letter as a means of demonstrating the support for its new corn
by industry heavyweights, an analysis of the organizations reveals that they
are either backed by or led by key players in the genetically modified organism
(GMO) industry. In other words, rather than being a group of unbiased
representatives of agricultural interests, these groups stand to benefit from
Enlist's successful introduction to the market.
Monsanto
Connection
Six of the
nine groups on Dow's list have clear connections to Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON),
one of the world's leading producers of GMO seeds and herbicides. The company
helped launch the GMO wave more than a decade ago with the release of
genetically engineered Roundup Ready seeds manufactured to resist Monsanto's
own Roundup herbicide. Among Monsanto's Roundup Ready crops are soybeans,
alfalfa, corn, cotton, spring canola, sugar beets and winter canola.
Roundup
Ready crops account for 90 percent of the soybeans and about 70 percent of corn
and cotton produced in the U.S., according to the USDA. Like Dow, the company
is also seeking regulatory approval for crops resistant to multiple herbicides,
as its glyphosate-based Roundup continues to lose its potency in the face of
so-called "superweeds."
These are
the links between the agricultural groups supporting Enlist and Monsanto:
- The Agricultural Retailers Association -- a Monsanto representative is a member of the board of directors for crop and seed production
- American Seed Trade Association -- its non-profit "First the Seed Foundation," which promotes seed biotechnology, is funded by the American Seed Trade, which itself is backed financially by Monsanto
- American Sugarbeet Growers Association -- Monsanto is a financial sponsor
- Biotechnology Industry Association -- Monsanto officials serve on the executive committee and as vice chair of the food and agriculture governing board
- National Wheat Growers Association -- Monsanto is a "diamond" level sponsor
- National Corn Growers Association -- the group's chairman, Bart W. Schott, is a liaison to the Monsanto Grower Advisory Committee
- In addition, a Dow AgroSciences representative serves on governing bodies of the Biotechnology Industry Association. And Dow is a "bronze" level backer of the National Wheat Growers Association.
The three
other signatories to the USDA letter -- the American Farm Bureau Federation,
American Soybean Association and the National Cotton Council -- do not appear
to have any professional ties to either Monsanto or Dow.
However,
all of those organizations specifically describe biotechnology as "the
future of modern agriculture" on their websites. Plus, most soybean and
cotton crops come from Roundup Ready seeds. Hence, trade groups created around
these plants are invested in the creation of new, multi-herbicide resistant
seeds that can withstand herbicides such as 2, 4-D.
The Problem
of 2, 4-D and Herbicide Resistance
Aside from
the potentially problematic connection of 2, 4-D to Agent Orange, disputed by
Dow, the chemical may pose its own risks. For example, the herbicide has been
known to drift when sprayed, damaging and even destroying neighboring crops
that are not genetically engineered to resist it. Dow claims a new 2, 4-D herbicide
that it has developed alongside Enlist corn reduces drift by at least 90
percent.
In addition
to corn, Dow is also developing soybeans and cotton with 2, 4-D resistance.
Critics warn that this is only a temporary fix to the rapidly increasing
problem of herbicide resistance, insisting the introduction of new and
potentially toxic herbicides will deepen a vicious cycle akin to a chemical
arms race with weeds.
"Dow's
2, 4-D crops are no 'solution' to glyphosate-resistant weeds. After at best
temporary relief, they will trigger an outbreak of still more intractable weeds
resistant to both glyphosate and 2, 4-D," wrote the coalition of critics
in their letter to the USDA.
What's
Next?
Dow hopes
the USDA will approve Enlist soon and that the product will be available to
farmers by 2013.
For its
part, Dow insists that impeding the sale and use of its new Enlist products
could have drastic impacts for both the American agricultural industry and the
international community.
"The
recommendations that pesticide opponents are making today would make farming
less efficient at a time when global crop production is barely keeping pace
with food demand driven by a word population expansion," Dow wrote in a
statement. "It would also further impair U.S. farm productivity in a
difficult economy at a time when agricultural exports are one of the single
greatest contributors to our nation's balance of trade."
Related Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment