PRESS RELEASE Issued: Wednesday 18^th September 2002

AMERICAN FARMERS REBUT GM ‘MYTHS’

American farmers have dismissed claims that many of them are against the use of biotechnology in agriculture as ludicrous.

"Various pressure groups and some media are hoodwinking the public by making unsubstantiated assertions about U.S. farmers’ adoption of biotechnology," said Kimball Nill, Technical Director of the American Soybean Association. "Their random statements are ludicrous, untrue and deliberately misleading," he said.

Mr. Nill was speaking September 16, 2002, at the launch in London of an interim report produced by nine of the major U.S. farm groups on the contribution of biotechnology and genetically modified (GM) crops to American farming.

Farmers in the United States are well aware of the debate in the European Union (EU) over the adoption of biotechnology and of the many issues and controversies surrounding it, he said, but they are also aware of the myths and misinformation fueling much of the discussion. This has led to misunderstandings and falsehoods about the use of technology and the advantages it could bring to all.

The report, called, "Let the Facts Speak for Themselves," aims to set the record straight by drawing on the knowledge and experience of farmers and numerous scientific and economic studies published on the subject to correct many commonly held assumptions about biotech adoption in the U.S.

The interim report makes the case for how the vast majority of crops used worldwide are the product of genetic modification and selection which has taken place for centuries and that today’s use of biotechnology is simply extending plant breeding techniques which have been used for the past 100 years, to ensure a safe and wholesome food supply.

The report reiterates a list of factoids – unverified or inaccurate information presented as factual and accepted as true because of frequent repetition – and sets out scientific and other evidence refuting these ‘myths’.

The report attacks the statement that widespread growing of GM herbicide-tolerant crops has harmed the environment and says that far from causing harm, herbicide-tolerant crops have transformed much of U.S. agriculture by reducing the need to plowed the land. Thanks to nil, or minimal ploughing, says the report, soil erosion is minimised, soil health and water retention is maximised, less carbon escapes from the soil to contribute to global warming gases in the atmosphere, and there is a considerable reduction in the use of tractor fuel used in field operations.

Speaking at the publication of the report the chairman of the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) Commercial Farmers Group, Henry Fell, who chaired the event said, "It is important to present all sides of the argument. Momentum for biotech crops has become unstoppable – at least globally. Where does this leave the UK in particular and the EU in general. The truth is that we are being left behind. Investment in science and biotechnology is being cut. With our farming industry in the state that it is we need all the help that we can to ensure that we have a viable farming and rural industry. We must learn from what is happening in the rest of the world and benefit from their experience and advances in technology."

The report has been endorsed by major farmer organizations of the United States including: American Agri-Women, American Soybean Association, National Chicken Council, National Corn Growers Association, National Cotton Council, National Milk Producers Federation, National Potato Council, National Turkey Federation and the United Soybean Board.

ENDS

For further information please contact:
Mr. Kimball Nill or                  Mr. Bob Callanan
Technical Director                   Communications Director
Email:      Email:

American Soybean Association

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