March 3, 2010

Monsanto to enforce Bt corn refuge rules

Monsanto Canada will give corn producers one warning to keep a refuge of at least 20% in Bt corn fields, after which it will cut off non-compliant growers.

This new enforcement policy was announced after warnings from the corn industry that Canadian farmers are slipping significantly in maintaining refuge acres.

Under Monsanto's new policy, Bt corn farmers who are found to be non-compliant during random field assessments will receive letters advising them of the importance of a "properly configured" refuge, and that they can expect a follow up assessment in the next growing season. After that, a corn farmer who had been warned but did not keep a proper refuge in a Bt corn crop the following year will lose access to Bt technologies licensed by Monsanto.

The first letters of non-compliance under the new policy will be sent out this winter, the company said.

Targeted insects such as European corn borer and corn rootworm could develop resistance to the Bt protein. A non-Bt refuge helps ensure the survival of target insects that have not bred resistance to the Bt protein, by diluting or eliminating any resistance traits that may develop through exposure to Bt over several generations.

The Canadian Corn Pest Coalition recently warned that Canadian corn farmers' refuge compliance rates have dropped to 61% in 2009 from up to 80% in 2005.