Comment Re:The ideal purpose of GM (ie, when its not some (Score 2, Informative) 762
Coming from a large US farm background (2000+ acres of corn and soybeans) I can say the GM crops reduce fuel and chemical consumption in many ways.
For instance in the 70's, we used to run mechanical cultivators through the corn at least once and the beans 2-4 times to root out the weeds. (think big tractors). Now, my brothers don't even own a cultivator. They use spot treatments of Roundup and other chemicals to kill the weeds. And believe me, at the cost of Roundup, they experiment all the time with reduced concentrations, spot treatments, etc. Fewer trips, fewer chemicals, less cost to the farmer.
For instance in the 70's, we used to run mechanical cultivators through the corn at least once and the beans 2-4 times to root out the weeds. (think big tractors). Now, my brothers don't even own a cultivator. They use spot treatments of Roundup and other chemicals to kill the weeds. And believe me, at the cost of Roundup, they experiment all the time with reduced concentrations, spot treatments, etc. Fewer trips, fewer chemicals, less cost to the farmer.
