StarLink and Pennsylvania

Greg Roth
Agronomy Corn Management

Since nearly all of the corn grown in our state is used for feed, we have avoided much of the serious controversy surrounding the StarLink corn crisis in the Midwest. But the StarLink situation still has had a significant impact on our corn industry here in our state. StarLink may have influenced Japanese corn purchases. They have turned to Argentina and China rather than the US for some of their corn needs. New, more stringent, regulations on GMO imports in Japan went into effect on April 1, and this could add to our export problems and keep price prospects low.

StarLink has delayed the introduction of new transgenic corn products. The liability associated with releasing a corn hybrid that is not approved for all commercial uses has caused other companies to pull hybrids from the market and to delay the introduction of the transgenic rootworm resistant corn hybrids that were planned for 2001. So a potentially useful technology in our region is unavailable. In the future, it is likely that hybrids will be approved for both food and feed uses before they are launched.

The seed industry has also been affected. When Aventis found the StarLink gene in non-StarLink corn, the USDA issued a call to test all lots of commercial corn seed in the US. Small amounts of the StarLink genetics were found scattered throughout the industry, and the USDA has agreed to purchase the contaminated lots to keep it off the market. The net effect has been that everyone in the industry has developed a healthy appreciation for the liability associated with mismanaging transgenic crops.

The whole StarLink experience has demonstrated that it is difficult to keep unapproved corn out of the grain trade, and once grain handling facilities are contaminated, it will take some time for the grain to work its way through the system.

Public policies regarding the release and use of biotech products will continue to evolve and the StarLink crisis has certainly accelerated this evolution. The management of GMO crops is serious business. As corn growers, crop advisors, and seed industry representatives we need to treat transgenic management issues such as refuge requirements, resistance management, grain channeling and isolation with our careful attention.