As harvest gets underway, farmers are waiting to see how
much damage this year’s drought has really done to their crops. We are not only
hearing concern on the producer side of things, many consumers have also
expressed concern regarding the higher corn prices and how it is going to
affect their grocery store expenses.
With new drought resistant corn hybrids becoming available
and expected to be more sought-after in years following this growing season, I
am beginning to wonder: Are consumers more concerned with low yields driving the
price of corn up or their qualms with GMO crops? If (heaven forbid) next year
we have another drought, but farmers had all planted drought-resistant corn,
would consumers be happy to see unwavering yields? Or would farmers get criticized
for planting genetically modified organisms?
Of course, each consumer would have a different opinion on
this matter, so I do not have the answers to these questions. But it’s an
interesting thought. Some may say that farmers are caught in a “damned if you
do, damned if you don’t” situation here, but I see a learning opportunity for
those concerned with how their food is grown. This year’s drought and the
resulting drought-resistant hybrids are a perfect example of why the agriculture industry has been
and continues to use GMO crops. There aren’t scientists sitting in a lab
somewhere conjuring up different ways to mess with your food just for the fun
of it. These crops give farmers a fighting chance against the many factors we
cannot control (i.e. weather, pests, disease, etc.) They help to make your food
supply safe and abundant.
So, to those consumers who want high crop yields to keep our
economy strong and our food prices affordable without the use of technology on
our farming operations… think about what you are asking farmers to do. We can’t
compete with the weather, we simply have to use the tools we are given to help
our crops along the best we can. So the more tools we have available to our
farmers, the better!
