40 percent of Maine’s 2008 Corn Acreage was Genetically Modified

[EditorBob]

NEWS***

Maine producers planted 40 percent of their 2008 field corn acreage to genetically modified varieties, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, New England Field Office. Nationally, 80 percent of the 2008 corn acreage was planted to genetically modified varieties. In Maine, varieties that were genetically modified for herbicide resistance were planted on 21 percent of the corn acreage, varieties that contained a Bt gene for resistance to insects were planted on 13 percent of the corn acreage, and stacked gene varieties were planted on 6 percent of the corn acreage. Maine corn producers planted 29,000 acres of field corn (excluding sweet corn) in 2008.

These results come from a survey of Maine corn producers that covered close to 85 percent of Maine’s corn acreage. The survey was funded through a cooperative agreement with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Resources. Information on the percentage of genetically modified corn, soybeans, and cotton is available in the USDA NASS June Acreage report and is available on line at www.nass.usda.gov.

As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential by law. NASS safeguards the privacy of all survey responses and publishes only state and national-level data, ensuring that no individual producer or operation can be identified.

[Murray in ME]

I wish that percentage were even lower but I'm suprised that it's not higher. I'm glad we're so far below the national average.