Ethical Debate in Agriculture

Flavr Savr Tomato

One ethical debate facing agriculture today is the food supply. Many people are afraid of genetically modified crops, but they do not understand the full potential of these small changes in a genetic sequence. One example of this small change was the invention of the Flavr Savr Tomato in 1994. The Flavr Savr tomato has the ability to make healthy eating choices reach even the most remote locations in the world, by providing extended crop life. My biology professor, Shawn Mueske, from Ridgwater Community college in Willmar, MN researched this crop while he went to graduate school. He presented on this topic and explained the many benefits and disadvantages of GM crops. 

Below is a picture comparison of excess ethylene production in tomato plants. The overproduction causes the fruit to spoil.

https://www.google.com/

The Flavr Savr tomato is a tomato that does not have the ability to ripen naturally. Crops ripen by ethylene gas converting starches to sugars. The more ethylene gas produced, the faster the fruit will ripen. To give an example you may already understand; it is the same as placing a green banana in a brown paper bag with an already ripe banana. The ethylene given off by the already ripe fruit causes others around it to ripen faster than they would normally. 

This causes a large amount of waste in grocery stores around the world. Tomatoes spoil quickly and then the additional ethylene production causes the surrounding fruits to over ripen. The Flavr Savr Tomato produces no ethylene, so you purchase the tomatoes green. They stay green until you inject ethylene in them and then they ripen before your eyes. 

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1832.html

There is an ethical debate on the wide use of these modifications and the health implements they may cause. A breeder never wants a crop modification they make to hinder the intended audience. This looks bad for their breeding company and for future job openings the breeder may want to apply to.

A very large ethical standard in crop research is safety. All people need to be safe at all times. The crop was never shown to have poor health side effects, however no long term research has been conducted. One of DuPont Pioneer ethics states that no amount of money, time, or investments is worth an employee being injured on the job. 

Another ethical standard set by plant breeders is to create the best crop possible. Although Flavr Savr Tomatoes are able to be stored for months on end at room temperature, the flavor of the tomato in nonexsistent. Mr. Mueske thought that the tomato tasted like wood. This is because the starches do not have  the proper time to convert to sugars. The beautiful red color may be there, but with no taste the tomato will not sell. Therefore, breeders and research companies never allowed these tomatoes to go into market production. This is an example of how breeders remain honest and fair when marketing their product. 

Blog 3- News Review

News Review

The news article I chose to review discusses whether or not products should have to be labeled to announce they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).  I found this news article online and it was published in the Texas Tribune on March 22, 2014. The full article can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/us/the-push-to-label-genetically-modified-products.html?ref=geneticallymodifiedfood. 

The main objective of this article was to persuade the government to pass a law that makes companies label all products that were made from a GMO with some form of identification.  The story said that this began when a farmer from Texas learned that seeds were injected with genes from pesticides and herbicides to make them resistant to chemicals like Roundup. 

From the perspective of my field, which is a crop research scientist for a worldwide corporation, I believe that this article is misinformed. Roundup Ready seeds are not injected with genes from the chemical. According to passel.unl.edu, the plant is inserted with a unique strain of agrobacteria, which is a pathogen that blocks Roundup from binding to amino acids. By not binding to amino acids plants are able to continue to perform amino acid synthesis, and therefore sustain nutrients to complete their growth cycle. 

http://www.vnews.com/

This story interviews the Food and Drug Administration. They believe that labeling products is a good idea for companies but will not enforce it because GMOs are safe and have no negative side effects. In their opinion, people should know where and how the food they consume is grown, but will not demand it because all safety standards are met. 
People were misinformed on the safety of GMOs, and because of this, the market for non-gmo grown products has skyrocketed in the past few years. General Mills recently switched to organically grown grains because of this new business venture. People who eat genetically modified grain cereals will continue to eat their favorite brand of cereal if it is made with non-gmos, however business will be lost if genetically modified grains are continued in cereal production. 
There are many benefits to GM crops. One of these benefits is that less herbicides can be used to kill weeds in a field. This results in less herbicide runoff, which pollutes our water and can damage ecosystems where herbicides were not meant to be used. This allows farmers to preserve the topsoil, which holds organic matter, micronutrients, and macronutrients. These three factors are key in the production of crops to sustain the worldwide food supply. 

                               
                                             http://www.chemistryviews.org

Another example of a GM crop is BT corn. BT stands for  Bacillus thuringiensis, which is a toxic bacteria to larval pests. According to http://www.rff.org, BT crops produce jobs for many people in third world countries. Income is increased by 82% in small farms because of higher yields and reduced pesticide use. In India, one study suggested that BT cotton alone led to a 2 billion dollar payout to people in the agriculture industry. 
Advances in agriculture, like GM crops, have allowed for the world to benefit overall. There is increased crop yield, which helps satisfy the need for food, fuel, feed, and fiber. It also protects nature by reducing the amount of pesticides and fertilizer needed. GM crops have proven to be safe by meeting and exceeding standards put in place by the Food and Drug Administration and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Blog 2: Boreas Machine

Boreas Machine

The Boreas Wind Machine was named for the Greek god of the north wind. It was revealed to the public in 2009, however Pioneer has been using it since 2004. It was kept quiet during these five years to ensure all the necessary patents were in place before other research companies heard of it. It is currently being used to check crop stands and durability. One problem breeders face is the brittleness of stalks in certain genetic families. DuPont Pioneer invented the Boreas Machine to simulate wind storms that rip up crops and cause brittle snap. Below is a picture of the Boreas Machine. 

                                             

pioneer.com

Brittle snap occurs when fierce winds whip corn stalks about putting stress on the nodes of the corn plant. The picture below shows what brittle snap looks like. The node that the plant broke at is like our knee. However, if we break our knee, we can go in and a doctor will fix us. There is no coming back from this for plants. This can cause a substantial field loss for farmers.

http://therightseed.com/blog/post/root-lodging-brittle-snap

The Boreas Machine is a modified sprayer. It has eight fans that point outward to blow down a row of corn. The speeds the fans are set at mimic the natural force of wind ranging between 60 to 140 mph. The process of blowing the corn can take a very long time because the machine only moves at a speed of three miles per hour. It is very difficult to do this test, because there needs to precise driving to ensure that all crop damage comes from wind and not driver error. Therefore, only four of Pioneer's research stations are equipped with Boreas equipment. All other stations ship seed to these stations for testing on their new hybrid lines. These three locations are in Wisconsin, Texas, and Willmar, MN. 

During my employment at the Willmar Pioneer I was able to work on the Boreas Crew. We drove to the undisclosed research station in the early morning hours , because we did not want other research companies to know where our Pioneer plots were. The corn we blew was in it's final tests before becoming sold to the public. In the pitch dark, I hopped into the cab of the modified sprayer, set the wind speed to around eighty eight miles per hour, which correlates to my region. Other tests centers have different wind speeds. 

The following day we count the number of broken plants caused by the artificial wind. This informs the breeder whether this variety is good for the region to plant or not. 

This machine is part of the Accelerated Yield Technology system in Pioneer. They believe that by conducting this research on plant stands, yield will increase by over forty percent in the next nine years.

If this seems interesting, the following link is a short video that goes more indepth on the process and gives you a closer view on the machine itself. This video is the original release information from DuPont Pioneer. The company has not given out much more data on this technology or the results. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lQzH0UWTYCE

Sources:

pioneer.com

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/02/prweb2121264.htm

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

My Future Job 

Written By: Tracy Hillenbrand 4:28 P.M.

I plan on being surrounded by green for the rest of my life. I am sure many of you jump to the conclusion of money, however I find the crops we grow to be a more appealing green. I will finish out my degree in Crop and Weed Science in a year and a half, but school will not be out of the picture. I am hoping to continue my education by getting either a master's or doctorate in plant breeding. 

pioneer.com

People do not see the amount of science and dedication needed to improve yields for farmers, help keep food costs low, and provide enough nourishment worldwide. I believe this is an ever growing field with the need becoming greater as the minute passes. God only created so much land, and with the amount of people continuously increasing, the need to be efficient with farm land increases as well. 

I have never lived on a farm, however, I have worked for a seed research company year round for the past four years. I grew up two miles down the road from the Willmar DuPont Pioneer Research Station. This research station specializes in corn and is the reason behind my drive to become a corn breeder. I figured that if I can still find my job fascinating after four years I should make it my goal to instill my passion for breeding into others by maximizing yield. 

It is not hard to become a Research Associate for a genetics company. These are the people who help the breeders do all of the necessary tasks throughout the year. One example of this is to plant corn by hand to get an even amount of crops to germinate from each variety tests will be run on. I am hand planting on May 28th, 2013, in the picture below. 
Through my many years worth of experiences with Pioneer, I have learned that an employee only needs a B.S. degree to work for the company. They do not care what the degree is in, as they are more concerned with your ability to catch on quickly to new tasks and dedication to finishing the task at hand. The average salary for an entry level position within the company ranges from $30,000-50,000. The company also has profit sharing and excellent health care benefits. 

There are many types of crops that an individual breeder and researchers may work on. These can range from crops such as corn, wheat, and soybeans to things you would not even guess are bred. The University of Minnesota invented the Honeycrisp apple through their research department. There are turf breeders who breed specifically for golf course greens. NDSU has a potato breeder who has been breeding potato varieties that get used by Frito Lay. 
Plant breeding is involved in a person's life on a daily basis, whether it is from snatching a bag of chips off a convenience store shelf, opening our pantry doors, or out getting a bit exercise in. There is a lot more to farming in today's society than jumping onto a tractor and dumping some seed in. I want to push the envelope and challenge the current expectations set in the seed industry.