April 26, 2004

NCGA Says US Farmers Planting Bt Corn Should Use IRM Refuges

The National Corn Growers Association is encouraging farmers that plant Bt corn borer resistant corn to use insect resistant management refuges in order to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's IRM requirements.
 
Growers that do not plant proper refuges with their Bt corn risk losing access to the technology in the future, the NCGA said Friday in a press release. There is the potential that farmers could be denied access to Bt technology for the 2005 growing season if they do not meet refuge requirements in 2004.
 
Under the Compliance Assurance Program, an EPA-approved IRM awareness and compliance program implemented in 2002, growers that have been found not meeting IRM refuge requirements for two consecutive years, can be denied access to Bt corn in the third year.
 
IRM refugee requirements were enacted to help prevent corn insect pests from developing resistance to Bt technology, which will allow the technology to be used well into the future, the NCGA said. According to the requirements, farmers have to plant at least a 20% refuge, with Bt corn fields located within one-half mile - preferably one-quarter mile - of the refuge. In some corn and cotton areas in the southern U.S., growers are required to plant at least 50% corn refuge.
 
"Research confirms that farmers growing the majority of Bt corn acres value the technology and are adhering to IRM requirements," said Helen Inman, NCGA biotech working group chair. "Every effort is being made to provide growers with the right information so they can make informed decisions that result in added value to their business - economic and environmental."
 
To help increase awareness, the NCGA recently launched the industry's first IRM online education center for growers, which is available on the association's Web site at www.ncga.com.