The controversy over transgenic crops is mounting. Baby food companies have refused to buy genetically engineered crops, and other buyers are offering premium prices for non-GMO growers. GMO's, or genetically manipulated organisms, include crops such as Roundup Ready corn and soybeans. In these crops, the genetic makeup of the seeds has been altered to produce herbicide-resistant plants. As the plants mature, farmers can spray the fields with Roundup, a commercial weed killer, without damage to their crop.
Fewer weeds make for easier harvesting and better sale prices.
Some farmers are now feeling squeezed between the production benefits of genetically altered crops and a public that's rejecting the science. USDA's Economic Research Service recently compiled a preliminary report on the benefits of genetically altered crops . Fueled by European bans on U.S-imported beef, other consumer groups are generating reports just as quickly, feeding on the public's fear of a dangerous food supply. According to USDA's Economic Research Service, U.S. farmland planted with genetically engineered crops has increased from about 8 million acres in 1996 to more than 50 million acres in 1998, in major states where data have been collected. In a speech to the National Press Club, Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman said that nearly half the soybeans grown in the U.S. are genetically engineered to resist certain pesticides.