USDA Releases Study of America’s Genetic Crop Adoption

By Jim.Robinson|July 8, 2011

The Economic Research Service, a primary source of economic information and research in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has released a comprehensive study of the country’s adoption rates of genetically engineered (GE) crops.

U.S. farmers have adopted GE crops widely since their commercial introduction in 1996. In terms of share of planted acres, soybeans and cotton have been the most widely adopted GE crops in the United States, followed by corn.

Herbicide-tolerant (HT) crops, developed to survive application of specific herbicides that previously would have destroyed the crop along with the targeted weeds, provide farmers with a broader variety of options for effective weed control. Based on USDA survey data, plantings of HT cotton expanded from about 10 percent of U.S. acreage in 1997 to 56 percent in 2001 and 73 percent in 2011.

Insect-resistant crops containing the gene from the soil bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) have been available for cotton since 1996. These bacteria produce a protein that is toxic to specific insects, protecting the plant over its entire life. Plantings of Bt cotton expanded rapidly, from 15 percent of U.S. cotton acreage in 1997 to 37 percent in 2001 and 75 percent in 2011.

For the first time ever, adoption of BT cotton in 2011 (73 percent of plantings) exceeded that of HT cotton (72 percent of plantings). Further adoption of Bt cotton depends on the expected infestation of Bt target pests, such as the tobacco budworm, the bollworm, and the pink bollworm. Adoption appears to have reached the low-growth phase, as adoption has already occurred on acreage where Bt protection is needed most.