The Political Economy of Regulation of Biotechnology in Agriculture - The Oxford Topic of Food, Politics, and Society - page 675

3. Farmers in markets where GM crops have not been introduced. Profitability in
markets where GM varieties have not been introduced, such as in Europe, become
threatened by competition from lower priced GM imports. It is, therefore, logi-
cal for farmers in such a position to oppose approval of GM varieties if there is a
prospect for maintaining some product differentiation and continuing to sell the
conventional product at the previous, higher price.
4. Livestock operations. Because feed grain is such a significant share of the input
costs of livestock operations, beef, pork, poultry, dairy, and even aquaculture,
producers all benefit from the introduction of price-reducing GM varieties in
feed-grain crops. Even in Europe, livestock and dairy groups have managed to
maintain imports of GM soybeans from the United States, Brazil, and Argentina
in order to be able to continue feeding their flocks and herds at a competitive cost.
5. Organic operations. Organic operators have opposed the introduction of GM
crops as part of their overall philosophy aiming to maintain “natural products”
Yet, they may have benefited significantly from the introduction of GM prod-
ucts. This is due to the enhanced product differentiation between mainstream
or conventional GM products and organic products. The presence of GM prod-
ucts in the market place is a significant quality contrast that increased demand
for and enabled organic producers to charge higher prices. Introduction of
GM products that increase farm productivity may also increase resource
availability.
Organic farmers would have been most threatened if GM crops were origini-
ally designated as organic, as was initially contemplated under the proposed U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) organics standards in the 1990s. In particu-
lar, Bt-based biopesticides had long been utilized in organic growing operations. If
genetically engineered Bt crops had been designated as organic, their rapid spread
would have undermined the product differentiation essential to the profitability of
organic producers. The political outcry that arose from the organic farming com-
munity during the federal comment period for the proposed USDA organics stan-
dards overturned the proposed designation of “plant-incorporated biopesticides” as
organic.
Agricultural Input Providers
Agricultural input suppliers are one of the primary interest groups that can benefit from
the introduction of GM crop varieties.
1. Large innovating GM seed suppliers . Table 27.1 shows that the innovative com-
panies that create and then sell or license GM crop varieties have benefited substan-
tially. They are estimated to have captured a quarter to a third of the total benefits
created by the technology. These innovators consist today of just a handful of compa-
nies: Monsanto, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Dow AgroSciences, Bayer CropSciences, Syngenta,
and BASF. Even within this small set of companies, Monsanto tends to dominate, in