{"id":107006,"date":"2014-01-27T16:02:43","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T16:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=107006"},"modified":"2014-01-27T16:02:43","modified_gmt":"2014-01-27T16:02:43","slug":"american-farmers-abandoning-genetically-modified-seeds-non-gmo-crops-productive-profitable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/american-farmers-abandoning-genetically-modified-seeds-non-gmo-crops-productive-profitable\/","title":{"rendered":"American Farmers Abandoning Genetically Modified Seeds: \u201cNon-GMO Crops are more Productive and Profitable\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel Jennings
\nRINF Alternative News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A growing number of farmers are abandoning genetically modified seeds, but it\u2019s not because they are ideologically opposed to the industry.<\/em><\/p>\n

Simply put, they say non-GMO crops are more productive and profitable.<\/p>\n

Modern Farmer\u00a0magazine discovered that there is a movement among farmers abandoning\u00a0genetically modified organisms<\/a>\u00a0(GMO) because of simple economics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get the same or better yields, and we save money up front,\u201d crop consultant and farmer Aaron Bloom said of non-GMO seeds. \u00a0Bloom has been experimenting with non-GMO seeds for five years and he has discovered that non-GMO is more profitable.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0re-converts to non-GMO seeds<\/a>\u00a0are not hippies but conservative Midwestern farmers who are making a business decision, Modern Farmer discovered. \u00a0They are switching back to natural seed because it is more profitable \u2013 not because of any ideology.<\/p>\n

\u201cFive years ago the [GMO seeds] worked,\u201d said farmer Christ Huegerich, who along with his father planted GMO seeds. \u00a0\u201cI didn\u2019t have corn rootworm because of the Bt gene, and I used less pesticide. \u00a0Now, the worms are adjusting, and the weeds are resistant. Mother Nature adapts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farmers can get paid more for conventional corn than GMO corn. \u00a0Plus, Huegerich discovered, convention corn can produce more per acre. Modern Farme reported that two years ago, Huegerich planted 320 acres of conventional corn and 1,700 with GMO corn. \u00a0The conventional fields \u201cyielded 15 to 30 more bushels per acre\u00a0than the GMO fields, with a profit margin of up to $100 more per acre.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Last year, he planted conventional corn in 750 acres.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get a fifty-cent-per-bushel premium,\u201d Huegerich said of the\u00a0non-GMO corn<\/a>\u00a0he grows in Breda, Iowa.<\/p>\n

Herbicide use increased by 26 percent\u00a0between 2001 and 2010 because of the spread of herbicide-resistant weeds. \u00a0Huegerich said he used herbicides on GMO corn and conventional corn, even though theoretically he shouldn\u2019t have to use it on his genetically modified crop.<\/p>\n

The group Farm & Water Watch reported that 61.2 million acres of cropland in the US are plagued by weeds that are resistant to the popular glyphosate herbicides.<\/p>\n

Why Non-GMO Seeds Are More Profitable<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Modern Farmer article, called The Post GMO-Economy, makes an excellent case for farmers dumping GMO. \u00a0Some of the interesting facts the magazine uncovered include:<\/p>\n