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UM Study Finds Little Cross-Pollination From Altered Crops

A study conducted throughout the fall at the University of Maine's Cooperative Extension farm has found that there is little cross-pollination between genetically engineered and conventional corn plants in the field.

"We are very pleased with the results," James Jemison, an agronomist and water quality specialist with the Extension, said Friday afternoon. "This will give farmers information they can definitely use."

The study was launched after vandals destroyed an experimental crop of genetically engineered corn at the Rogers Farm in Orono last August. No one has ever been arrested for the vandalism. GE crops are grown to be disease- and insect-resistant and require less pesticide application.

"Those who oppose growing GE crops made it look like there was going to be a cloud of genetically engineered pollen, flying all over the state," Jemison said.

The study revealed that for corn plants grown in the field, cross-pollination is small for plants in proximity to each other and quickly drops to zero with increasing distance.

About 1,000 stalks of the GE corn grown at the Extension farm were cut down, apparently in protest, after the corn had finished shedding its pollen. Jemison said that seeds from conventional corn nearby were grown in a greenhouse to determine if any cross-pollination had occurred before harvest.

"The conventional corn was grown only 100 feet away from the GE corn, plus it was downwind," he said. "We figured this was a perfect example of the worst-case scenario.

"Organic farmers are concerned about having their product not meet organic standards and potentially losing their organic certification if pollen from GE corn cross-pollinates their non-GE corn," the agronomist said. "Most corn breeders use set distances, about 1,000 feet, from other corn plants to ensure genetic integrity."

Results of the study indicate that in hybrid corn grown downwind from the GE plots, there was about a 1 percent cross-pollination in the first six rows within 100 feet of the GE corn. In the middle six rows, the frequency dropped to 0.1 percent, and in the last six rows, the frequency dropped to 0.03 percent. No cross-pollination was found in corn 1,000 feet away.

Jemison said that only plants immediately downwind of the GE corn exhibited significant cross-pollination. "A buffer or border rows will adequately protect organic corn crops from neighboring crops of genetically modified varieties," he said. "If a farm is four miles away from a GE farm, I'm comfortable saying this is clearly not an issue," Jemison said.

Nancy Oden of Jonesboro, a Maine activist in opposition to GE crops and foods and a member of New England Resistance to Genetic Engineering, could not be reached for comment.

Oden actively protested the Rogers Farm GE crops, using the cross-pollination issue as the cornerstone of her objections. Jemison said he will discuss his study and findings in more detail at the Maine Agricultural Trade Show from 9 to 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, at the Augusta Civic Center.