New Biotech Corn Could Knock Out Rootworm ST. LOUIS, Mo. While sci entists have developed new biotech plant varieties that resist several pests, corn rootworm has continued to munch its way across cornfields. Rootworms thrive on the roots of corn plants, leaving the plants so weak that they don’t grow or produce as much as they should. Without a healthy mass of roots to anchor them, the crip pled stalks fall to the ground. And if the corn still manages to live and produce ears, rootworms that mature into bee tles can devour the kernels and silk. The insect can grow from egg to adult within one year, and do some extensive damage along the way. These hungry and hearty in J-STAR Silo I nloader lakes a (.iant leap forward! BKsAiuantum TOWER SILOS REALLY MEASURE UP! Towers lose ]ust 3% to 7% because of gravity, feed weight and a good unloader like the Big Jim QUANTUM System. 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If government regulators ap prove the new Yield Gard™ rootworm-protected corn, devel oped by Monsanto, farmers across the Corn Belt could cut back on their use of insecticides and get season-long control of corn rootworm regardless of weather and soil conditions. The company is in the final stage of registering the product with the Environmental Protec tion Agency. Monsanto’s field trials are promising. They show that the new product is significantly YOUR ALL-IN-ONE FARMSTEAD EQUIPMENT SOURCE \ . "■■r ■: i * \ - | -■• - ~ A : „ 2 LKASK IT TODAY W IT H ONK PAVMKNT DOW N! HOOVER EQUIPMENT Tyrone, PA 16686 814-684-1777 EQWPMENTSALES & ROVENDALEAG& BARN service equipment Gap PA 17527 717-442-8134 Watsontown, 17777 51 v*s3o*»sd4 OR 570-742-4226 JAMES L. HOSTETTER McVeytown, PA 17051 717-899-6386 Measure for measure, nothing beats a tower silo for storing forage. Just compare them to bunkers which have up to 45% storage loss, lower capacity, increased labor and lots of inconvenience more effective and consistent than the leading insecticides in controlling rootworm. Yield- Gard’" rootworm corn was 100 percent consistent in controlling rootworm damage, compared to 93 percent for the best perform ing insecticide. Monsanto esti mated that an economic threshold of 3 on a scale of 1 to 6 was the point at which it is cost effective to use some form of rootworm control. On that scale, the YieldGard’" product achieved a rating of 1.7, com pared to 2.3, 2.5 and 2.6 for the leading rootworm insecticides. Monsanto’s Yield Gard™ rootworm-protected corn is just the latest arrival in a growing family of successful biotechnol ogy products that are helping farmers win the battle against Piston Pumps EFFICIENCY AT ITS BEST! Now get the best of Van Dale® and Nesseth® in J-STAR'S heavy duty piston pump. A proven design, its hollow cast iron piston in a formed-steel cham b th. mi m, For a trouble-free, low maintenance system that offers you maximum pumping power, look no further than the one name that says it all - J-STAR. WIGGERS FARM EQUIPMENT Cory, PA 814-664-2661 SOLLENBERGER SILOS GLADHILL TRACTOR CORP - MART Chambersburg, PA 17201 Frederick, MD 21701 717-264-9588 301-663-6060 crop- and profit-eating insects and diseases. Its older siblings include corn that resists the Eu ropean corn borer; cotton that is protected against cotton boll worms, pink bollworms and to bacco budworms; potatoes that resist the Colorado potato beetle; tomato plants that resist certain viruses; and sunflowers, soybean canola and wheat that are protected against various caterpillar and beetle pests. Like the corn borer-protected cienc UP STROKE SOMERSET BARN EQUIPMENT Somerset PA 15501 814-445-5555 STAR SILOS Myerstown, PA 17067 717-866-5708 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 25, 2002-D3 corn approved in 1997, the new corn variety contains bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) genes, which produce a protein that is toxic to several insects. Application of Bt to protect against rootworm will be a boon to corn growers in the Corn Belt that stretches across the Midwest, where rootworm is a bigger problem than corn borer. U.S. corn producers are ex pected to embrace the new Mon santo product as soon as it is approved for sale and planting in the United States. USDA re ported in March that U.S. farm ers are increasing their plantings of biotechnology crops, with biotech corn plantings increas ing to 32 percent of all corn planted in 2002. The rootworm protected corn is likely to prove even more popular than existing biotech varieties of corn. Mon santo’s market research shows that three-quarters of corn pro ducers surveyed are interested in using rootworm-protected corn. Producers who have resisted planting biotech varieties be cause of their higher price tag may decide that now is the time to make the investment. Appli cation to control corn rootworm is the leading use of insecticides in the U.S. In 2000, more than 90 million pound' of insecticide were ap plied on more than IS million acres of corn nationwide, ac cording to Doane Market Re search. But early planting and overly wet or dry soil conditions can compromise the effective ness of insecticides. Producers who want to protect the environ ment and themselves from expo sure to chemicals while gaining more consistent control over corn rootworm may jump at the chance to plant the new Yield- Gard'“ variety. While Monsanto is the first company out of the gate with a rootworm-protected variety of corn, other companies are ex pected to come out with their own similar products in the near future. Mf May 13,2002 Farm Bureau News !9§r
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