Idaho Sugar Industry Plans a Response to GMO Critics

摘要

Consumer pressure for non-genetically modified food products is placing a strain on Idaho sugar beet farmers.Idaho sugar beet farmers have grown increasingly dependent on genetically modified seeds for cost savings and greater yields over the last decade. But large companies like Hershey are switching from genetically modified beets to traditional beets or canesugar to fill their needs.Idaho farmers are now asking if it's worth growing sugar beets at all, said Garth Taylor, extension specialist at the University of Idaho Department of Agricultural Economics."Farmers are saying they won't go back to hoeing sugar beets," Taylor said. "They say they would rather farm potatoes or another crop then go back to conventional seeds."The pressure to go non-GMO has affected business at Amalgamated Sugar, the Idaho cooperative that is the country's second biggest producer of sugar made from sugar beets.