Michael Horak

Q: Have any engineered crop genes ended up in wild, weedy, or otherwise freeliving populations of crop relatives?

Answered By Michael Horak - Jan 23, 2015

A: In order for genes to move from one plant to another, cross pollination must occur.  Cross pollination among plants is a natural biological process that can occur between closely related plants. Generally, the more closely related two plant species are, the greater the chance that they can cross pollinate and hybridize with one another.  In rare cases cross pollination can occur between plants that are more distantly related (such as between different species, but almost never between plants in different genera).  However, when two different species cross pollinate it usually o [...]

Q: why do the pro GMO talking points seem to avoid the fact that 80 plus of the actual implementation of the technology is for herbicide primarily glyphosate resistance. Health and safety issues with GMO hardly ever include the issues of the herbicides in q

Answered By Michael Horak - Nov 25, 2014

A: This site has addressed human health in terms of herbicides, particularly glyphosate. Here is a little background on why herbicides are used; linked at the bottom are additional responses that discuss the safety profile of glyphosate in more detail.   I am not sure that people who speak about GMO crops actually “avoid” the fact that many herbicide-tolerant crops are in the marketplace. In fact, multiple herbicide-tolerant crops have been developed because of the challenge weeds pose to agricultural production.   As you may know, weeds are a major competitor with crop [...]

Business Practices

Q: Do Roundup Ready crops reduce chemical use?

Answered By Michael Horak - Feb 05, 2016

A: Thank you for the question. Roundup Ready® crops (a brand name for some glyphosate-tolerant crops) have been enhanced through biotechnology to no longer be susceptible to glyphosate. Corn, soybean, cotton, canola, sugar beet and alfalfa are all examples of crops that have some glyphosate-tolerant varieties. Farmers use herbicides as one method to control weeds on their farms.    Methods that farmers use to control weeds include cultural control methods (e.g., growing a healthy crop to compete with weeds; cover crops that suppress weed growth), physical methods (e.g., hand [...]

Answered By Michael Horak - Feb 05, 2016

A: Thank you for the question. Roundup Ready® crops (a brand name for some glyphosate-tolerant crops) have been enhanced through biotechnology to no longer be susceptible to glyphosate. Corn, soybean, cotton, canola, sugar beet and alfalfa are all examples of crops that have some glyphosate-tolerant varieties. Farmers use herbicides as one method to control weeds on their farms.    Methods that farmers use to control weeds include cultural control methods (e.g., growing a healthy crop to compete with weeds; cover crops that suppress weed growth), physical methods (e.g., hand [...]

Other

Q: Do Roundup Ready crops reduce chemical use?

Answered By Michael Horak - Feb 05, 2016

A: Thank you for the question. Roundup Ready® crops (a brand name for some glyphosate-tolerant crops) have been enhanced through biotechnology to no longer be susceptible to glyphosate. Corn, soybean, cotton, canola, sugar beet and alfalfa are all examples of crops that have some glyphosate-tolerant varieties. Farmers use herbicides as one method to control weeds on their farms.    Methods that farmers use to control weeds include cultural control methods (e.g., growing a healthy crop to compete with weeds; cover crops that suppress weed growth), physical methods (e.g., hand [...]

Answered By Michael Horak - Feb 05, 2016

A: Thank you for the question. Roundup Ready® crops (a brand name for some glyphosate-tolerant crops) have been enhanced through biotechnology to no longer be susceptible to glyphosate. Corn, soybean, cotton, canola, sugar beet and alfalfa are all examples of crops that have some glyphosate-tolerant varieties. Farmers use herbicides as one method to control weeds on their farms.    Methods that farmers use to control weeds include cultural control methods (e.g., growing a healthy crop to compete with weeds; cover crops that suppress weed growth), physical methods (e.g., hand [...]

Other