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GMO corn threatens organic farmer's crop Tuesday, August 12, 2003
MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (AP) -- Laura Krouse has a mystery on her hands -- and in her fields.
Krouse, of Mount Vernon, wants to know how genes from genetically modified corn showed up in her old-fashioned, open pollinated corn two years ago.
And that's a big problem for Krouse's business -- Abbe Hills Open Pollinated Seed Corn.
"I want to be certified organic by 2005, when every organic farmer has to plant certified organic seed," Krouse said. "But if I test positive for genetically modified corn, what's going to happen? Most of my customers will stop buying from me, and I'd have to go look for a different kind of customer."
Cross-pollination has become a big issue for farmers in recent years.
Last year, cornfields in Iowa and Nebraska were destroyed after it was feared they had been contaminated by test plots of corn varieties that had been modified to produce pharmaceuticals, vaccines and industrial products.
Last week, the federal government tightened restrictions on genetically modified crops, requiring that they be grown in isolation to prevent cross-pollination.
This year, Krouse planted her seed corn in a five-acre plot in the middle of her 70-acre farm, near Mount Vernon, in eastern Iowa.
She hopes that the one-eighth of a mile distance between her corn and her neighbor's genetically altered corn will be enough to keep her crop clean.
Krouse's company is one of only a few companies that sell open-pollinated seed corn in the United States. Less than 1 percent of the corn planted in the U.S. is open pollinated.
Hybrid seed replaced open-pollinated seed corn in the United States 70 years ago and has since spread across much of the developed world.
Hybrid corn typically yields more, but can't be saved and planted again without losing much of its yield. Open-pollinated corn can, however.
Livestock producers like the higher protein and oil content that many open-pollinated corn varieties contain.
Open-pollinated corn usually produces plants with weaker stalks than hybrids do. That makes it better for use as silage, but also makes it more likely to fall over in high wind.
Experts disagree on how far corn pollen can carry, but all agree that cross-pollination in corn plants is a subject that needs more research.
Kendall Lamkey, a plant breeder at Iowa State University, said organic-corn growers face a tough problem because the genes of genetically modified corn have already become mixed into the general corn gene pool because of cross-pollination.
"GMO genes are already widespread," he said.
Lamkey said Krouse's corn is in danger.
"She can't control what her neighbors do, so she's only got a couple of options and they aren't enough," Lamkey said. "Organic corn in Iowa is going to be really hard to do because of the pollen issue."
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