\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a>\r\n(Reuters)—Researchers in the key corn-growing state of\r\nIllinois are finding significant damage from rootworms in farm\r\nfields planted in a rotation with a genetically modified corn that\r\nis supposed to protect the crop from the pests, according to a new\r\nreport.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\r\nEvidence gathered from fields in two Illinois counties suggests that\r\npest problems are mounting as the rootworms grow ever more resistant\r\nto efforts to fight them, including crop rotation combined with use\r\nof the biotech corn, according to the report issued by Michael Gray,\r\na professor of crop sciences at the University of Illinois.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\nHere’s the report,\r\nby Michael Gray in U. Illinois Bulletin, 27 August 2012,\r\n\r\nSevere Corn Rootworm Injury to Bt Hybrids in First-Year Corn Confirmed<\/a>,\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a>\r\nOn August 26, Joe Spencer an entomologist with the Illinois Natural\r\nHistory Survey, and I traveled to Livingston and Kankakee counties\r\nand confirmed significant western corn rootworm larval injury in\r\nfirst-year cornfields that had been planted to Bt rootworm hybrids\r\n(VT Triple PRO RIB — expresses the Cry3Bb1 protein). The\r\nfields in question were brought to our attention by Bryan Johnston,\r\nCabery Fertilizer, Cabery, Illinois. Bryan indicated that many\r\nfirst-year Bt cornfields in the area had severe root pruning and\r\nlodging. The fact that rotated corn is now showing susceptibility to\r\nrootworm damage, even when planted to certain Bt hybrids, is\r\nevidence that crop rotation in central and east central Illinois\r\ndoes not adequately confer a consistent level of root protection.\r\nJoe Spencer collected numerous adult western corn rootworms in the\r\ndamaged corn and adjacent soybean fields. The number of beetles in\r\nthe soybean fields was reminiscent of densities in the late 1990\u2032s\r\nand early 2000\u2032s — very impressive. The density of western\r\ncorn rootworm adults in both crops, along with the severe pruning\r\nand lodging, was additional evidence that the Bt hybrids (VT Triple\r\nPRO RIB) had failed to offer the necessary root protection.\r\nBioassays on the offspring from the adults collected by Joe Spencer\r\nwill be required to determine if these rotation resistant western\r\ncorn rootworms are also resistant to the Cry3Bb1 protein. If the\r\nbioassays confirm resistance to the Cry3Bb1 protein, producers\r\nacross a wide swath of Illinois will have a formidable insect foe\r\ncapable of overcoming both crop rotation and at least one Bt protein\r\n(Cry3Bb1)….\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\nBack to the Reuters story:\r\n
\r\n\r\n“People are taking efforts to address it,” he said. “Rotating modes\r\nof action, that will be one of the best things we can do.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\n“Rotating modes” as in crop rotation.\r\nCombine that with\r\n\r\nreal seed, cover crops, and cultivation<\/a>,\r\nand pretty soon you don’t need Monsanto at all.\r\n
\r\n\r\nA Monsanto official had no immediate response to a request for\r\ncomment, but the company has said in the past that it is working\r\nwith growers to address resistance concerns.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\nToo busy gloating over their money, I suppose.\r\n
\r\n\r\n
<\/a>\r\nMeanwhile, our experience with the mutant pigweed here in Lowndes County\r\nhas been that on our land where we don’t spray we don’t get much of it,\r\nperhaps because when its natural competition isn’t killed off,\r\nit’s not such a big threat.\r\nApparently only when Roundup and other chemicals kill off all the competition\r\ncan mutant pigweed become a real pest.\r\nPerhaps it’s the same with corn rootworm.\r\nMight be\r\n\r\ntime to find out<\/a>….\r\n
\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mutant pigweed here, mutant rootworm there, pretty soon no Monsanto pest protection anywhere. Carey Gillam wrote for Reuters 28 August 2013, GMO corn failing to protect fields from pest damage: report (Reuters)—Researchers in the key corn-growing state of Illinois are finding significant damage from rootworms in farm fields planted in a rotation with a genetically […]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,8,6],"tags":[2761,2762,24,2428,2430,3,23,2429,5,2,15,2760,376,25],"class_list":["post-1192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","category-agrochemicals","category-okra-paradise-farms","tag-agriculture","tag-agrochemicals","tag-brown-dog","tag-corn-rootworm","tag-crop-rotation","tag-georgia","tag-gretchen-quarterman","tag-illinois","tag-john-s-quarterman","tag-lowndes-county","tag-monsanto","tag-okra-paradise-farms","tag-pigweed","tag-yellow-dog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Gj0O-je","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1192"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1194,"href":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192\/revisions\/1194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}