Survey Shows 16% GMO Planting Reduction

February 23, 2000

A survey sponsored by the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) shows farmers who planted genetically modified corn last year will reduce GMO planted acres by 16% this year. Agri Business Group, Inc., an agricultural marketing research and consulting firm, conducted the survey.

The survey has a 4.1% margin of error and was conducted through contacts with 582 corn producers in 17 states who farmed 214,098 acres of corn; 321 of those surveyed planted GMO corn in 1999. The survey showed an 11% reduction in GMO planted acres this year among all 582 farmers, those who planted GMOs last year and those who did not.

"Farmers are clearly caught in the middle of this (GMO) debate," said ACGA CEO Gary Goldberg. "Everywhere farmers turn, another decision is being made that impacts production agriculture. The rules established by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to require the planting of a refuge between GMO and non-GMO crops; the decision by Frito-Lay and other food processors to purchase only non-GMOs; the biosafety protocol which calls for labeling export shipments ... and the decision by grain elevators ... to offer premiums for non-GMOs only add to the decision-making burdens farmers are facing on the issue of GMOs."

The survey also showed 87% of farmers have ordered seed for the upcoming planting season; 35% said they have concerns about GMOs that included marketability and elevator acceptance; and on the question of who should be responsible for liability from pollen contamination, 50% said the seed company, 13% said the farmer who planted the GMO and 37% didn't know.