23
Apr
Farm Groups Petition USDA to Assess Environmental Impacts of New GE Crops
(Beyond Pesticides, April 23, 2012) A diverse coalition of farm groups has petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to conduct a comprehensive environmental impact statement on the cumulative effects of a new generation of genetically engineered (GE) crops modified to tolerate the herbicides 2,4-D and dicamba. The Save Our Crops Coalition filed the petition in advance of an anticipated spike in applications of the two herbicides in 2013 with the commercial release of a new generation of “stacked” corn and soybean varieties, which will also be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. In the petition, the coalition stated that 2,4-D and dicamba have been proven to be especially prone to volatilization and drift and that even extremely low residue levels can cause catastrophic damage to non-target crops as far as ten miles from the point of application.
The petition raises specific concerns about the increased 2, 4-D and dicamba usage due to the timing of the herbicide applications. The new blended 2,4-D or dicamba and glyphosate herbicides will be sprayed repeatedly during the growing season after weeds emerge and begin to compete with crops. Spraying herbicides, which are known to volatilize and drift during periods when specialty crops are at their greatest risk of exposure, is likely to increase the incidence of and resultant damage to non-target crops. The coalition stated it expects the newly 2,4-D and dicamba tolerant varieties to be grown in close proximity to crops like soybeans, tomatoes, grapes, green beans, peas, cucumbers, squash, melons, pumpkins, all of which are highly sensitive to exposure to these herbicides.
“My farming operation was decimated by 2,4-D exposure. The government’s consideration of the impact of its actions is a necessary first step in ensuring no other specialty crop producer has to endure the devastation that my farm has experienced,” said Gary Phelps, a tree farmer based in Kentucky. “The dramatic increase in the use of 2,4-D and dicamba, and these herbicides known impacts on off-target crops threaten the survival of the specialty crop production in the Midwest. It’s time USDA, the stewards of American agriculture, stood up and considered the cumulative impacts of all these crops,” said Steve Smith of Red Gold, an Indiana-based food processor and coalition member.
2, 4-D is a highly toxic herbicide which has been linked to cancer, reproductive effects, endocrine disruption, and kidney and liver damage. It is also neurotoxic and is toxic to beneficial insects (such as bees), earthworms, birds, and fish. Scientific studies have confirmed significantly elevated rates of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma for farmers who use 2, 4-D. Dicamba is a neurotoxic chlorinated benzoic acid herbicide that the EPA classifies as acute toxicity class III, slightly toxic. The material is a recognized eye irritant, moderately persistent in the environment and highly mobile in soil and water as well through the air. Chronic exposure to Dicamba is linked to reproductive and developmental effects.
The Save Our Crops Coalition represents more than 2,000 farmers and groups such as the Organic Valley Cooperative, the Ohio Produce Growers and Marketers Association, and major food processors Seneca and Red Gold. While the coalition does not categorically object to the use of GM materials in agriculture, its petition specifically faults the draft environmental impact statement prepared by USDAs Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for inadequately assessing the cumulative effects of multiple new 2,4-D and dicamba resistant varieties entering the market simultaneously. The petition cites one scientific expert who projects a 1,070% increase in the amount of 2,4-D alone being applied to corn within five years. The coalition submitted its petition to an open docket that APHIS maintains for public comment on the proposed release by Dow AgroScience of a 2,4-D corn variety. The public is welcome to submit comments to this docket.
Farmers do not have to remain stuck on a pesticide treadmill that demands ever greater amounts of synthetic inputs and rewards chemical suppliers at the expense of farm profitability and the environment. Organic agriculture is an ecologically-based management system that prioritizes cultural, biological, and mechanical production practices and natural inputs. By strengthening on-farm resources, such as soil fertility, pasture and biodiversity, organic farmers can minimize and even avoid the production challenges that chemical inputs such as synthetic pesticides, fertilizers and antibiotics are marketed as solving.
GE crops have also yet to deliver on the early promises made by the biotechnology industry to increase crop yields. A 2009 report from the Union of Concerned Scientists evaluated the overall effect genetic engineering has had on crop yields in relation to other agricultural technologies. It reviewed two dozen academic studies of corn and soybeans, the two primary GE food and feed crops grown in the United States. The report concludes that GE herbicide-tolerant soybeans and herbicide-tolerant corn has not increased yields. Insect-resistant corn, meanwhile, has improved yields only marginally. The increase in yields for both crops over the last 13 years, the report finds, is largely due to traditional breeding or improvements in agricultural practices.
Source: Planet Ark
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
I am an environmental engineer and I think the negative environmental impact of GMO herbicide resistant crops far outweighs their benefits.
April 23rd, 2012 at 12:47 pmPlease do not allow any new genetically engineered crops. We do not need them.
July 16th, 2012 at 7:33 pmIn NM they have passed a bill that protects green chilli here. This is claim from other states and counties from claiming they are NM green chilli.
July 17th, 2012 at 10:08 amWe can do this with the strains of cornand other veg.(Beans Squash), being (native) Americans we should all pass a laws that protects corn form being altered from its original being. Since they were here before it was America. Somethings are worth fighting for and this is the Main ONE. Unite All Americans and lets hold on to our values and Freedoms. Remember no liars, no sneaks or thieves, you do one of them. Then you do all of them, politician! Time to say good by to your office if you don’t represent the PEOPLE!