CORN WARNING

Give two UMaine researchers credit for open-mindedness both as scientists and residents in a state where organic farming has an important and growing place in farming. Their work should remind lawmakers that these farmers must be given a chance to grow and certify their crops.

When vandals chopped down a patch corn crop of Roundup Ready corn being tested for herbicide resistance, John Jemison, an agronomist and water-quality specialist, and Michael Vayda, professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, turned their research to address some of the concerns apparently raised by the vandals. Specifically, they looked at the effect of the modified corn on regular corn, an important question for farmers who want assurance that drifting pollen from the modified plants won’t alter the makeup of the regular ones.

The two didn’t have to look far. Right in the bag of the supposed regular corn they were going to plant they found a small, unintentional supply of the modified seeds, a telling example of a problem that organic farmers have been saying is a serious problem since the engineered seed was introduced a little more than a decade ago.

Maine is not a large corn producer, but given that corn pollen grains are among the largest and heaviest of wind-pollinated plants, studying it may provide an idea of how large a setback would be minimally required so that the genetically modified corn did not interfere with growing traditional corn. Legislation passed last year requires sellers of modified seed to provide Maine with a set of instructions that they will give to farmers to ensure that pollen drift is not a problem. So far, the response from sellers is reported tepid.

The reason for that may well be that the safe setback is considerable. Professors Jemison and Vayda had to go out more than 1,100 feet from the edge of a field of modified corn before finding that no cross-pollination had occurred. That’s nearly double the recommended setback farmers traditionally had been told to use when raising conventional corn for specific traits.

It is important to note that even at 100 feet and favorable wind directions the amount of cross-pollination was low. But the strict certification standards for organic crops demand that extensive setbacks be in place. Professor Jemison agrees that the farmers using the modified corn have a responsibility to ensure their fields are not damaging their neighbors’. The value of the university research is that it reinforced the idea of just how pervasive genetically altered corn could become without proper safeguards.

Vandals might thank the researchers for their work by dropping by the university fields this summer and offering to do some free weeding.