Anything I Can Do
By Trent Loos
Recently on CMT, they were praising Willie Nelson for a concert performance in Los Angeles at the “Earth to LA” fundraiser. Willie said, “I am glad to do anything I can do to help the environment.” My response was, “You better get started, Willie!”I am happy to report that since I exposed Farm Aid for its ties to animal rights groups, they have removed all references to these organizations on their website. They have also made it a little tougher to learn of their desire to get rid of biotechnology, but it is still there. Recently, they “hailed the decision by Monsanto to cease research on introducing GMO-wheat to the market place.”
Farm Aid has other statements on their web site about biotechnology such as:
“Environmental hazards, food and crop contamination, declining market prices, and political battles are all side effects of the genetic tampering with your food.”
“In short farmers often encounter higher costs and lower yields with GE crops.”
“In 2001, Farm Aid helped create the Farm to Farmer Campaign on Genetic Engineering in Agriculture, to help inform family farmers, consumers and people who care about the environment about the legal, financial and health implications of genetic engineering in agriculture.”
Wait just a minute, Willie! I thought you said you would do anything to help the environment, so why are you bashing biotech?
The Council for Biotechnology reports that Roy Bardole, who farms 1,400 acres and makes his living from the land, also sees the imprint farming can leave on rivers, topsoil, animal life and water.
That's why Roy plants biotech soybeans, a variety designed by researchers to be able to withstand a herbicide that he only has to use once during a growing season instead of several applications needed with conventional varieties. Environmentally, it's the smart thing to do. Economically, it's been a proven boost to his bottom line.
Nationwide, it's estimated that biotech soybeans have saved almost 1 billion tons of soil that would have otherwise ended up in the nation's waterways or blown away. No-till and reduced-till farming practices - triggered in part by better weed control from biotech crops – saved 234 million gallons of fuel in 2000 by reducing the number of tractor trips over each field.
"We have wildlife on the farm today that my dad has never seen before, and he's over 90 years old," Bardole said.
Bardole sees other pluses as well. In 1991, his herbicide and related costs were $65 to $70 per acre. Today, those costs are less than $30 per acre. That combination of economic and environmental benefits helps explain why 75% of soybean acres in 2002 were planted with biotech seed, according to the U.S.D.A. Research from both Purdue University and the prestigious Proceedings of The Royal Society support the fact that biotech seeds benefit the environment and improve wildlife numbers.
“The results clearly show that soil, air and water quality are enhanced through the responsible use of current biotechnology-derived soybean, corn and cotton crops,” says Teresa A. Gruber, executive director of the Ames, Iowa-based Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST).
Included in the CAST literature review was a study of biotech crops by the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP) which found that six biotech crops planted in the United States — soybeans, corn, cotton, papaya, squash and canola — produced an additional 4 billion pounds of food and fiber on the same acreage, improved farm income by $1.5 billion and reduced pesticide use by 46 million pounds.
It may come as a surprise to learn that some Amish farmers, who have shunned innovations like the telephone and electricity, have embraced biotechnology. A growing number of Amish in Pennsylvania have been using genetically enhanced seeds because they see them as another tool to help them continue their traditional agrarian lifestyle.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization recently made recommendations to embrace the increased research and adaptation of biotechnology to feed an expanding world population. The UN FOA report said GMO’s "are yielding significant economic gains to small farmers." And, despite concerns that farmers would become beholden to big biotech companies, "farmers and consumers so far are reaping a larger share of the economic benefits of transgenic crops than the companies that develop and market them."
So Mr. Nelson, I am excited that you are willing to “do anything to help the environment” and I am sure it will be just a matter of time until Farm Aid will embrace the greatest advancement in food production in the history of the world - biotechnology. In the meantime, my “Blue eyes will be crying” for you to start telling the truth.
