Thumbs Up for Engineered Sugar Beets

  • Harvesting sugar beets. (Photo courtesy of the USDA)

A new genetically modified crop will be
growing in farm fields next spring. Sugar beet
farmers have been cleared to plant beets that are
resistant to an herbicide known as Roundup. It will
be the first genetically engineered food crop to be
introduced since the 1990s. Mark Brush has more:

Transcript

A new genetically modified crop will be growing in farm fields next spring. Sugar beet
farmers have been cleared to plant beets that are resistant to an herbicide known as
Roundup. It will be the first genetically engineered food crop to be introduced since the
1990s. Mark Brush has more:



A little more than half of the sugar we use comes from sugar beets. Some beet farmers
are excited about the prospect of a genetically modified beet that won’t be killed by the
herbicide Roundup. So an entire field can be sprayed with Roundup – crops and all – to
kill weeds.


Bill Freese is with the environmental group Center for Food Safety. He says the new
engineered sugar beet is just one more crop that will make us more reliant on pesticides:


“Most of the research being done is on more herbicide resistant crops. So where the
biotechnology industry is taking us is to a world where more and more chemicals will be
sprayed.”


The industry has long maintained that Roundup and similar products don’t pollute
waterways the way other pesticides do. But the widespread use of Roundup has led to
more herbicide resistant weeds – that some people call ‘super-weeds.’


For the Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.

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Super Weeds on the Rise

Farmers across the country are increasingly using genetically
modified crops that are resistant to an herbicide commonly known as
“Roundup.” But as Tracy Samilton reports, weeds are starting to
develop resistance to the chemical, too:

Transcript

Farmers across the country are increasingly using genetically
modified crops that are resistant to an herbicide commonly known as
“Roundup.” But as Tracy Samilton reports, weeds are starting to
develop resistance to the chemical, too:


Glyphosate, known by the brand name Roundup, kills all kinds of plants –
except for crops engineered to resist it. Unfortunately, weeds are
beginning to develop Roundup resistance, too.


Steve Duke is a researcher with the US Department of Agriculture. Duke
says there are ways to slow the evolution of Roundup-resistant weeds,
such as rotating crops, rotating herbicides and using more than one
herbicide.


But many farmers aren’t using the techniques, because they’re more
trouble and more expensive:


Farmers tend to think, oh there will be another silver bullet coming
down the pike in the near future, so they want to maximize their
profits this year.


Duke says farmers could use glyphosate for a lot longer if they follow
the recommended practices. Duke says that’s good, because Roundup is considered
less harmful to the environment than other herbicides.


For the Environment Report, I’m Tracy Samilton.

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New Gmo Grass to Get Federal Approval?

  • The quest for a perfectly manIcured lawn has driven some lawn care companies to create a grass resistant to weed killer. Some worry, however, that they've created an invasive species. (Photo by Philipp Pilz)

An environmental watchdog group is hoping to block federal approval of a new genetically modified type of grass. The group says the grass poses a threat to natural areas. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin Toner reports:

Transcript

An environmental watchdog group is hoping to block fedral approval of a new genetically
modified type of grass. The group says the grass poses a threat to natural areas. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin Toner reports:


Two companies – Scotts and Monsanto – want the government’s approval to commercialize a type of
creeping bentgrass. The grass would mainly be planted on lawns and golf courses because it’s
resistant to Roundup, a popular weed killer. But critics of the bio-engineered grass say it
needs more testing. For one thing, they say, genes from the grass can spread and strengthen
non-native plants.


Joe Mendelson is with the International Center for Technology Assessment.


“The end result is you’re going to create a grass that is invasive, that will take over natural
areas like our grasslands and or forest areas, and we won’t be able to control it. That’s going
to have a very negative impact on a number of sensitive ecosystems.”


The U.S. Forest Service has also weighed in, saying the grass has the potential to have a
negative effect on all of the country’s grasslands and natural forests. Scotts has said the
bio-engineered grass poses no threat to natural areas.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erin Toner.

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