NCGA Reminds Members IRM Refuges are a Must for Bt Corn Growers (4-23-04)
As growers throughout
the Corn Belt work through spring planting season, the National
Corn Growers Association (NCGA) encourages all
farmers planting Bt corn borer resistant corn to implement insect
resistant management (IRM) refuges to ensure they meet the Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) IRM requirements. Growers who do
not plant proper refuges along with their Bt corn risk losing access
to this technology in the future.
For the first
time, there may be growers who will be denied access to the Bt
technology for the 2005 growing season if they do not meet
the refuge requirements
again in 2004. Under the Compliance Assurance Program (CAP) — an EPA-approved
IRM awareness and compliance program implemented in 2002 — growers
who have been found not meeting IRM refuge requirements in two consecutive
years,
can be denied access to Bt corn borer resistant corn in the third year.
As a CAP requirement,
registrants of Bt corn borer resistant corn are responsible for
evaluating the extent to which growers are adhering to IRM requirements
through on-farm visits and an annual grower compliance survey.
Established
in 1999, IRM refuge requirements were enacted to help prevent corn
insect pests, such as the European corn borer, from developing
resistance
to
Bt technology, enabling the technology to be used well into the future.
According to these requirements, growers are obligated to plant at least
a 20 percent
refuge, with Bt corn fields located within one-half mile (preferably
one-quarter mile) of the refuge. In certain corn/cotton areas of
the South, growers
are required to plant at least a 50 percent corn refuge.
“Research confirms that farmers growing the majority of Bt corn acres value
the technology and are adhering to IRM requirements,” said Helen Inman,
NCGA Biotech Working Group chairman. “As efforts to elevate the importance
of IRM and implementation of IRM practices continue to increase, so does grower
compliance. Every effort is being made to provide growers with the right information
so they can make informed-decisions that result in added value to their business — economic
and environmental. We do not want any grower to be deprived of this valuable
technology.”
According to
the 2003 IRM grower compliance survey, 92 percent of farmers met
regulatory requirements for IRM refuge size, while 93 percent met
refuge distance requirements — an increase from 87 and 82 percent
reported respectively in 2000 when the survey began.
Additionally,
to help support IRM awareness efforts, NCGA recently launched the
industry’s first IRM online education center for growers — the
Insect Resistance Management Learning Center (IRMLC).
Developed by
NCGA and the Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Committee (ABSTC) — a coalition of the four Bt corn borer registrants — the
IRMLC provides a comprehensive overview on the principles of
IRM.
Available free-of-charge
at www.ncga.com, the IRMLC provides corn growers access to training
on several topics, including
IRM, Compliance
Assurance
Program
(CAP), Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Corn Borer, and Corn
Rootworm. Within each section, users of the IRMLC can complete
a series of
questions to reinforce
their knowledge. Upon satisfactory completion, the user can
print out a certificate of completion.
The NCGA also
suggests growers consult with their seed dealers and seed company
representatives to help ensure they understand
IRM requirements.
Growers
also can visit the “Know Before You Grow” section of www.ncga.com for
more information on Bt corn and the IRM requirements.