WATERVILLE - After pleas from farmers on both sides of the issue,Maine's Bureau of Pesticides Control on Friday approved theregistration of corn that is genetically engineered with a naturalpesticide. Maine is the last state in the country to allow themodified corn to be sold or grown.
While dairy farmers said they needed the greater-yielding corn tomaintain a competitive edge, organic growers said they feared for thehealth of Maine's residents.
'This technology has been out there about a generation,' testifiedPeggy Gannon of Stetson, 'and there have been no long-term tests onhumans.' Gannon and others asked the Bureau of Pesticides Control towait for approval until next spring to give the Legislature time toreview new liability rules for planting genetically engineered crops.
'Maine doesn't have this [engineered corn]. We are the only statebecause we're smarter,' said Andrea DeFrancesca of Franklin.
Dairy farmers, however, asked the bureau to allow them the sametools that other farmers across the country are using, saying theycould save money and environmental costs by eliminating pesticidespraying and growing a bigger, disease-free crop.
The genetically engineered corn approved Friday is Bt, or Bacillusthuringiensis, corn.
Bt corn - which is used only for cow feed, not for humanconsumption - is genetically engineered to produce pesticidalproteins from the naturally occurring soil-borne Bt bacteria thatkill certain insects. As such, the corn seed is considered apesticide, which is why it requires BPC approval.
Members of the BPC said they recognized that Bt corn may requirespecial management because of concerns the pollen may drift toorganic corn.
'This is not Kansas,' said BPC member Daniel Simonds. Referring tothe different geography in Maine and how varying farms abut eachother, he said, 'The spatial management of this is quite complex andmay be hard to monitor.'
To deal with those concerns, the BPC approved the corn with twoconditions: that an educational program be offered by the chemicalcompanies, and that sales records be provided to the BPC to allowmonitoring of how much and where the corn is planted.
The BPC held the hearing after a request filed in March by threebiotech companies - Dow AgroSciences, Pioneer Hi-Bred Internationaland Monsanto - on behalf of dozens of Maine farmers. The companiessubmitted applications to register seven Bt field corn products, allused as feed for animals.
Organic farmers at Friday's hearing testified that drift from Btcorn could contaminate their certified organic crops and possiblyopen them up to copyright infringement lawsuits from the chemicalcompanies that manufacture the seeds.
Jody Spear of Co-Op Voices Unite said Bt corn poses unacceptablerisks, including liver and kidney damage, allergies and asthma, aswell as posing risks to other plants and animals.
'Consider that one out of every three bites of food has beenpollinated by honeybees. You need to tread carefully,' she said.
Logan Perkins of Protect Maine Farmers said the issue was not justabout organic certification. 'It is about the market, about consumerconfidence and the farmers' ability to save seed.'
But conventional dairy farmers argued that organic farms representa small percentage of Maine agriculture and the 'tail shouldn't wagthe dog.'
Dairy farmers from Knox, Pittsfield and Exeter testified Fridaythat using Bt corn will give them a competitive edge and allow themto stop spraying their fields with pesticides, which sometimes isdone three times a season.
James Crane, an Exeter dairy farmer, raises 2,400 acres of cropswith nearly 1,000 acres in corn, and pays $13 an acre to spray withpesticides.
He said Bt corn already is being imported into the state as cattlefeed. 'It is coming into the state by rail cars. Allow me tocompete,' he said.
The BPC began investigating Bt corn in 1994, conducting technicalreviews to look for adverse effects on human health and for potentialdevelopment of insect resistance.
According to Dr. John Jemison, an agronomist at the University ofMaine in Orono, these reviews were conducted in 1997 afterapplications were filed to register three Bt corn products. The humanhealth review concluded there were no concerns, and a process wasestablished to identify any development of insect resistance. Theregistrations were denied, however, because Maine's pesticide statuterequires that a need or benefit be demonstrated for the products. Nosuch information was available at that time.
At Friday's hearing, the BPC members concluded that Maine farmersneeded the edge provided by planting Bt corn.
'If we don't take advantage of this technology, these farmers maynot be here in five or 10 years down the road,' BPC member RichardStevenson said.
The BPC will draft a new rule which then will be advertised by theSecretary of State's Office and a formal public hearing will be heldin the future.
