Is Monsanto's Patented Roundup Ready Gene Responsible For a Flattening of U.S. Soybean Yields that has Cost Farmers anEestimated $1.28 Billion?

Presentation at 2004 Midwest Soybean Conference.

28 September 2004

Dan Sullivan, New Farm

September 28, 2004: Flat soybean yields since the mid '90s, followed by a drastic drop in 2003, have many farmers wringing their hands and some agronomists searching for answers.

The flat yields since 1995 have cost conventional U.S. soybean farmers an estimated $1.28 billion, according to a report entitled "Stagnating National Bean Yields" The report-presented at the 2004 Midwest Soybean Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, last August-first described historical yield trends, then went on to explore potential causes for the downward spiral, including erratic weather patterns, increased marginal acreage under production, and genetic changes.

>From 1972 to 1993, according to the report, soybean yields increased >.45percent each year. Those yields peaked in 1994, then went flat until 2003, when they dropped by 5.88 bu./acre.

"We went to seed companies and they confirmed that yields have leveled off," said Ron Eliason, who headed up a consortium of farmers funding the study. "We asked 'Is this a trend you see?' And they said 'yes.' For most of these people, this was anecdotal. The statistics...sort of got their attention."

The report also looked at severe weather patterns-including early season dry spells and heavy August rain-as a possible cause for the drop in yields. But the statistical data showed that there was not enough variation from other years to account for such a radical shift. "In other words, our conclusion was that there's something going on in soybeans that is not explained by the weather," Eliason said.

The report went on to speculate that conventional soybeans may have performed better in 2003 than some genetically modified (GM) hybrids. "There are some things that happened since 1995 that would lead you to look into that area," Eliason told New Farm during a telephone interview. "I don't want to get into that controversy.but anytime you get into genetically engineering a plant, that takes energy."

What's the connection?

In 1996, Monsanto introduced its Roundup Ready gene into the soybean market, patenting a genetically engineered plant that was resistant to the company's own Roundup Ready herbicide (glyphosate). That year, 7 percent of all soybeans planted on U.S. soil were Roundup Ready. By 2004, that figure had risen to 85 percent.

The promises of Roundup Ready soybeans-for which farmers are required to sign elaborate contracts, pay licensing fees and a premium for the technology, and face stiff penalties for saving seed-included better weed control with lower pesticide use, less labor in the fields, and improved yields.

Those claims have fallen short. While weed control has been improved with less labor, new glyphosate-resistant 'super weeds' are now developing as a result of overuse of the herbicide (studies have shown that farmers growing Roundup Ready soy use 2 to 5 times more herbicide than farmers growing other varieties). Perhaps most critical to farmers, yields have gone down.

While flat or even lower yields from one year to the next do not necessarily mean a smaller paycheck for the farmer-that's determined by market forces-if farmers are paying a premium for a technology that promises higher yields while it actually reduces them, that could have a significant bearing on their bottom line.

The report at the Midwest Soybean Conference also considered as possible causes for crop losses a new aphid problem and the fact that soybean plantings on marginal lands have increased by 12 million acres since 1996 (some researchers say soybeans do not belong in such areas because they are erosive).

Soybeans do tend to perform better than some other crops on marginal lands, said Paul Hepperly, research director at The Rodale Institute, where experiments comparing soybean yields in conventional and organic systems have been under way for more than two decades.

As for the aphid problem, Hepperly pointed out that when a Roundup Ready soybean plant is sprayed with glyphosate it turns yellow, then gains back its green color as the plant recovers. Aphids are typically attracted to yellow plants, he said. "Aphids never before used to be a problem on soybeans," Hepperly said. "Are these aphids to some extent a consequence of the changes that affected the metabolism of the plants?

"Roundup inhibits the pathway that produces 35 percent of the metabolites. When they're blocking the normal interaction of that pathway, they're playing with things that affect the immune system of that plant."

And that could make those plants less resistant to pest and disease problems, Hepperly said. Technologies such as Roundup Ready are typically developed in best-case-scenario environments that bolster performance but seldom reflect real-farm pressures, he said, pointing out that the problems now developing with Roundup Ready soy are mostly related to stress factors in an uncontrolled environment.

Hepperly questioned whether the new pest, root rot susceptibility the other problems now plaguing soybean farmer might be related to a new production system skewed toward what's easiest to produce, not necessarily what's most productive.

And he's not alone.