Soybean Association Finds Biotech Beans Save Soil

ST. LOUIS--Biotech soybeans are helping farmers preserve farmland from wind and rain erosion, according to findings from the American Soybean Association (ASA). Its first-ever Conservation Tillage Study showed that 73 percent of soybean growers are leaving more crop residue on the soil surface that before biotech soybeans were commercially available. "This ASA study quantifies what most soybean farmers already know," said Bart Ruth, ASA president and a soybean producer in Rising City, Neb. "Biotechnology gave farmers another tool to control weeds that reduce yields and lower the quality of our crops, while at the same time, helping us improve our stewardship of the environment."

According to ASA, the biotech soybeans permit farmers to minimize or eliminate tillage before planting, leaving old crop material on the soil and reducing the amount of lost soil. ASA estimated that almost half of growers increased no-till soybean acres between 1996 and 2001, and 53 percent of growers said they are making fewer tillage passes in soybeans.

The ASA study looked at the farming practices of 452 farmers in 19 Midwestern or Southern states; study results are available at the ASA Web site (www.soygrowers.com).