GE Crops: A 10-Year Review

It's been 10 years since the first generation of genetically engineered (GE) varieties of major crops became commercially available. Recently, USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) released a report titled "The First Decade of Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States."

Overall, the report states that adoption of GE varieties by U.S. farmers is widespread, especially for corn, soybean and cotton crops. Still, the report acknowledges, "questions remain regarding the impact of agricultural biotechnology," ranging from economic and environmental impacts to consumer acceptance of products derived from such crops.

In reviewing the adoption of GE crops in the United States over the last decade, the report focused on the three major players in agricultural biotechnology: seed suppliers, farmers and consumers.

The report notes that, since 1987, seed producers have submitted 11,600 applications for field testing of GE varieties to USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Of those submissions, more than 92% have been approved. Nearly half of the approved applications were for corn, and more than 6,600 included herbicide-tolerant or insect-resistant GE varieties.

Overall, farmers seem to have embraced GE varieties, particularly herbicide-tolerant varieties that allow crops to survive exposure to herbicides intended to destroy weeds. According to the report, farmers are apt to adopt new practices and technologies if they can benefit from them. With GE crops, they have "expectations of higher yields, savings in management time and lower pesticide costs." Although currently available GE varieties do not increase yield, insect-resistant varieties can prevent yield losses.

According to the ERS report, consumer surveys indicate U.S. consumers have "at least some concerns about foods containing GE ingredients." Nevertheless, the study notes, because FDA does not require labels on foods containing GE ingredients, "U.S. consumers have been eating foods that contain GE ingredients (corn meal, oils, sugars) for the past 10 years while remaining largely unaware of their GE content."

Biotechnology is at a crossroads, the report concludes, and its future role and ultimate contribution to agriculture in the United States "will depend on our ability to identify and measure its potential benefits and risks."