Are you behind the curve or ahead of the curve when it comes to planting biotech crops? Or are you one of those farmers who wants the benefits of the technology, but are in a marketing area that limits what you can plant because of export market restrictions? When the ag statisticians were preparing for USDA’s planted acreage report, they also randomly asked if the corn or soybean crop in the surveyed field was planted with a biotech seed. You may or may not be surprised at the results.

Unless you are growing non-genetically modified beans for a specialty market and a premium price, there is a good chance you are raising soybeans with a herbicide tolerance. Most of those will be Roundup Ready or glyphosate tolerant beans, but the USDA refers to them as GE or genetically enhanced soybeans. Such GE beans are produced on 91% of the soybean acreage in the US, according to the 2007 NASS survey. That has grown from 54% in 2000 when the first such data was collected, but as expected the rate of increase has slowed in recent years.

Some Cornbelt states have planted more than 90% of their soybean acreage with GE beans. They include IN and IA at 94%, NE at 96% and SD at 97%. And ND at 92% has come a long way from the 22% level in 2000. IL, OH, MI, and WI are still in the upper 80% range. Outside of the Cornbelt, MS is at 96%, AR is at 92%, and other soybean producing states that are grouped together are at 86%. Curiously, AR has leveled off at 92% for the past 4 years, and MS has been at 96% for the past three.

Herbicide tolerant soybeans are the primary variety of GE soybeans, but USDA does draw a distinction between herbicide tolerant and all GE soybeans. Even though the survey is separated, for all practical purposes the statistics in each survey are identical. The corn survey results are more expanded, since the NASS statisticians reported they had to ask more questions about corn hybrids. “Randomly selected farmers across the United States were asked if they planted corn that, through biotechnology, is resistant to herbicides, insects, or both. Conventionally bred herbicide-tolerant varieties were excluded. Stacked gene varieties include those containing GE traits for both herbicide tolerance (HT) and insect resistance (Bt).”

The aggregated corn report on all GE hybrids indicates 73% of the US corn acreage has been planted with some type of biotech corn. With that hint of increased yield potential from the biotech hybrids, USDA’s Supply Demand report for July, being released later this morning (July 12) may reflect the results of the biotech seed report.

As in soybeans, SD is leading the pack by planting biotech corn with 93% of its acreage. It is followed by ND at 88%, MN at 85%, and KS at 82% biotech corn acreage. IL and IA are in the 70% range, IN is at 59% and OH at 41%.

For biotech corn that has only insect resistance, the national average is 21% but MO, NE, KS, MN and ND are the only states well above that level. IA is at 22%, IL, WI, and MI at 19%, and a collection of smaller corn producing states are at 20%.

For biotech corn with only herbicide resistance, the overall national average of 24% is a bit higher. ND and TX lead with 37% use, followed by KS, MN, SD, and the lesser corn producing states all in excess of 30% of their acreage in herbicide tolerant corn. The larger producing states of IL, IA, and IN are only in the 15 to 19% range, along with WI at 19%. OH, which has insect resistant corn on only 9% of its acres, only devotes 12% of its acres to herbicide resistant corn.

The widespread availability of stacked gene hybrids has only been in the past two years, but the popularity of such biotech corn is evident with its rapid claim on acreage. Nationally, it is at 28%, with SD at 43% acreage, then IL and IA at 40% and 37% acreage respectively. As an indication of the popularity of stacked gene hybrids, 7 of the 13 surveyed states recorded a doubling of acreage from 2006 to 2007.

Summary:
Biotech crops have become common across the Cornbelt, both herbicide resistant soybeans and corn with a variety of insect and herbicide resistance. The rate of adoption of herbicide resistant soybeans is slowing as the market matures. However, the rate of adoption of genetically enhanced corn is accelerating. Nevertheless, three out of four acres of corn and soybeans in the US are genetically enhanced. While that trait may have been sold to farmers as one that either saves the cost of labor or cost of spray, a primary benefit may be increased protection for the crop that allows it to produce a better yield.