Strube found himself at the center of a high-tech agricultural uproar involving the genetically modified super seed. According to Neil Harl, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University, the discovery sent shock waves through the agricultural world. It's a shot across the bow of biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology. The important point is that the world is watching to see if we are capable of handling the technology that we, the United States, have created here. For if we are not capable of handling it, this will have, I think, an adverse effect upon our products in world channels.
Corn is a multi-billion dollar food industry.
Giant processors turn the grain into products used in chips, sweeteners, starch, oil, flour, and cereals. In Iowa, the economy depends on corn production. They planted 160 acres of it, hoping it would control a serious pest. This plant is naturally toxic to your European corn borer, and that's why we planted it. And it also has some resistance to the rootworm beetle and that's why we use it.