Agriculture Reference
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134 bushels per acre in 2010. By contrast, seeds with two types of herbicide
tolerance (glyphosate and glufosinate) and three types of insect resistance
(corn borer, corn rootworm, and corn earworm) had an average yield of 171
bushels per acre. These results are consistent with findings by Nolan and
Santos (2012), who analyzed a rich dataset of experimental hybrid trials
collected by the extension services of 10 universities in major corn-producing
States from 1997 to 2009.
Not surprisingly, adoption rates of stacked-seed varieties have increased
quickly (figures 9 and 10). Stacked corn seeds grew from 1 percent of the corn
acres in 2000 to 9 percent in 2005 and 71 percent in 2013, while stacked
cotton seeds grew from 20 percent to 34 percent in 2005, and 67 percent in
2013 (figures 9-10). The most widely adopted GE corn varieties have both Bt
and HT traits (table 8). Varieties with three or four traits are now common.
Bt crops have insect-resistant traits; HT crops have herbicide tolerance traits.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Economic Research Service (ERS).
2013.
Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States,
data
product.
Figure 9. Adoption of genetically engineered corn: growth of stacked traits, 2000-
2013.
