Stop to think what would happen to corn production if you could put a gene into it that will withstand 3 or 4 degrees of frost. Then you could plant earlier in the spring, when moisture is more plentiful. It will increase yield. It will shift corn production to earlier planting. We are just seeing some of the first things that have been useful.
Farmers are incredibly productive, but it does come at a price.
There is a lot of contamination of soils and groundwater with the excess use of chemicals that are used to control weeds and insects and pests. So this was an obvious area that biotech could very quickly address issues of interest to the farming community. At that point in time, the biotech companies weren't thinking specifically of the consumer. This allowed them to use just a single herbicide. They only had to spray if the weeds emerged.