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Expert response from Community Manager
Moderator for GMOAnswers.com
Wednesday, 07/02/2018 12:50
Farmers have a choice to which seed they purchase, sell, plant and grow - whether biotech, conventional or organic. Although, with the 10 crops available in the U.S., only a few varieties of sweet corn, squash, potato and apples have genetically engineered options.
Expert Katie Pratt, a farmer from Illinois, discusses in this response how her family farm chooses specific seeds to plant and grow.
Michelle Miller, also known as The Farm Babe, briefly explains industrial agriculture in one of her YouTube videos here. In the video, she also discusses how farmers can choose their own seed agreements.
Farmers are in control of their particular seed choices, and companies recognize and respect that. Greg Wandrey, PhD, Former Director of Stewardship and Compliance at DuPont Pioneer, in this response states,
“We respect a farmer’s right to choose the best seed for him or her. In fact, our company is a supplier of non-biotech seed. Our agronomy and sales teams work with farmer customers to match the right seed—whether that's biotech or not—and the best management practices to their specific growing conditions. And what we see in the field is that farmers are successfully growing all types of crops (conventional, organic, biotech, specialty), sometimes even on the same farm, through good communication, cooperation, flexibility and mutual respect for each other’s practices and requirements.”
