Farm Bureau Picnic and Summer Tour educational and fun

The Muskingum County Farm Bureau Picnic and Summer Tour was June 28, at Jared and Jenny Cox’s home and seed agribusiness near Dresden. On the road to their place we could see the result of so much rain with several acres of corn and soybeans covered with water. I’m writing this piece on June 30 and I think it’s the 20th consecutive day with rainfall.

The Cox facility is set up to handle and sell corn, soybean, wheat and alfalfa seed. This season they treated 35,000 bushels of soybean seed with fungicide, insecticide and an inoculant which allows nitrogen to be produced in the soil.

Besides touring the seed handling facility we heard a couple speakers talk about the technology which improves crop yields which means using less acreage to produce more and feeding more people. In the USA we have the safest, most abundant and best source of food in the world due to science, technology and efficiency of production. In 1920, the average corn yield was 29.9 bushels per acre. In 2014 it was 158.8 bushels per acre.

Dennis Wickham, a pioneer agronomist, talked to the group about Genetic Modified Organisms (GMO). GMOs have received a lot of bad press. Hybridization is an ancestor of GMOs. Hybrid crossing began in the 1700’s. This was cross breeding of plants and animals using external characteristics within a species. GMOs use internal characteristics. GMO herbicide resistant crops have less herbicide used on the crop using the same acreage and receiving more production. This means more food with a better environmental impact. There is a 0% residue when the product gets to the table.

Another example is cotton production. To control the boll worm, high levels of insecticide were required. With GMO cotton the insecticide use is greatly reduced.

If a plant needs a trait that can’t be achieved through advanced breeding, a gene can be turned off or moved, or a gene from another source can be inserted. 75 studies are completed per product for each new genetically engineered crop. This crop meets the same standards as all the food you eat and use so there is no risk in eating GMO produce.

Iris Eppley is a member of the Farm Bureau Council.