Seed Today - Q1 2008 - (Page 4)

Editor’s Note A Few Strong Bugs A Publication of Country Journal Publishing Company 3065 Pershing Ct • Decatur, IL 62526 217-877-9660 • FAX: 217-877-6647 www.seedtoday.com joe@seedtoday.com Joe W. Funk Editor Deb Coontz Publisher/Sales Manager/Circulation Jody Sexton Production Manager/Assistant Editor Rod Horve Art Director In mid-February, researchers at the University of Arizona reported that they had found some cotton bollworms that tested positive for resistance to Cry1Ac Bt toxin (see Bollworm Bt Resistance, p.14). Time will tell if the report’s conclusions are valid or if, in fact, the observed results are the Joe W. result of other influences not considered in the report. Remember the study that concluded Bt was decimating the monarch butterfly population? Whether or not the Arizona conclusions are validated, critics can be counted on to wave them as more evidence for banning transgenic crops. Already, they are shrieking “I told you so!” ing at the door, waiting for a chance to break in. Insect resistance management (IRM) is an absolute necessity, especially when the pesticide appears to be working at its best. What many of us— critics included—don’t appreciate is that the first generation of transgenic crops is performing too Funk well. It is not Bt or HT crops that leads to pest resistance, it is lazy farmers and complacent seedsmen. Pesticide Cocktail Before 1996, there were no pest control measures as effective as transgenic seed traits. To get good weed control, farmers mixed herbicides, often making a “Duke’s mixture” in an attempt to get good weed control. The idea was that “If one doesn’t get the weeds, the next one will.” Even with that attitude, herbicide resistance developed long before Roundup Ready® soybeans appeared on the scene. As early as 1964, herbicide resistant field bindweed was found in Kansas. Resistant smooth pigweed was found in Delaware in 1977 and three years later in Pennsylvania. When farmers realized they could use Roundup Ready soybeans, eliminate calculating and mixing herbicide cocktails, and still get cleaner fields, they became lazy. Now it looks like we are returning to pesticide cocktails. Double and triple stacked traits targeted to controlling the same pest may soon be required as a condition for deregulation. It is exponentially more difficult for an insect or a weed to develop resistant to multiple toxins than to just one toxin. We all need to read the fine print in the Arizona report. Joe W. Funk, editor joe@seedtoday.com Sy McElvain Bookkeeper The Truth is in the Details Like is so often the case, the truth about the news is in the details. What the big print giveth, the fine print taketh away. Except for the GM critics, they never got to the fine print. There is much more in the Arizona report than the headline. This is not the first case of insects developing to resistance to Bt toxins. The report’s authors indicate that insects are known to have developed resistance to Bt sprays which “have been used for decades.” The implication is that a small resistant bollworm population evolved in response to exposure to Bt spray used as an organic insecticide. But who could have known? As the use of Bt spray declined, other pesticides controlled the bollworm, rendering its Bt resistance an evolutionary dead end. Jeff Miller, Mark Avery Sales Seed Today is published quarterly and mailed to members of the following seed associations: • American Seed Trade Association • Independent Professional Seedsmen Association • Southern Seedsmen’s Association • Western Seed Association • Atlantic Seedsmen’s Association • Northern Seed Trade Association • Pacific Seed Association The magazine is free of charge to qualifying individuals in the United States and Canada. Foreign subscription rate is $60 per year. Brought to you by the publishers of Grain Journal, Milling Journal, BioFuels Journal and industry specific F.Y.I. e-newsletters. A Wake-up Call What the seed industry does need to keep in perspective is that resistance to any pesticide is like a hungry wolf howl- 4 First Quarter 2008 http://www.seedtoday.com http://www.seedtoday.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Seed Today - Q1 2008

Seed Today - Q1 2008 Contents Editor’s Notes Cover Feature: Agrecol® Corporation Reed Barker, Ph.D. Cal/West Seeds Inc. Annual GM Use Report Bt Resistance Reported Camelina Tony Harper Gayle Jacklin According to ASTA Krauter Structures AOSCA AOSA/SCST GM and Greenhouse Gas Seed Associations Ad Index

Seed Today - Q1 2008

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