Is it more or less expensive to use gmo technology for crops?

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Tuesday, 03/04/2018 17:40

Jennie Schmidt, Maryland Farmer and Registered Dietician, answers a similar question, about how GMOs are cost efficient.

“A bit of history. Our farm has always been “early adopters” of trying new systems, new technology and new approaches. One of the 1965 Farm Journal magazine editions has photos of my father-in-law on a hi-boy inter-seeder, planting cover crops and practicing no-till agriculture, which were “cutting edge” back then. We have partnered with universities, extension agents, state and national government offices, and with industry to conduct research plots on our farm to help further the knowledge agriculture has moving forward in environmental and economic sustainability. We began using biotech seeds in 1998, just two years after they were commercially available.

I’m often asked why farmers so readily adopted biotechnology and my answer is always because it was easy, since it was the next stage in improved plant breeding. Farmers had already been introduced to and adopted hybrid corn and other hybrid crops since the 1930s. That adoption curve took much longer for the majority of farmers to begin using this technology. So when genetically engineered seeds became available, it was a pretty easy next step in the decision to adopt. The other benefit is that the technology worked. When you look at the adoption curve since 1996, we would have never reached the level of the number of farmers using this technology if it hadn’t been effective and beneficial.”

Further, in this response, Drew Kershen, Earl Sneed Centennial Professor of Law (Emeritus) at University of Oklahoma - College of Law, explains where much of the money and funding comes from for GMO research, technology and production.

We hope this answers your question. If you have any other questions about GMOs or biotechnology, please ask!