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Corn genetically engineered to resist pests and tolerate herbicides made up 85% of the U.S. corn crop in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But a report by a watchdog group, out today, finds that since 2006, farmers have become increasingly non-compliant with federally-mandated planting requirements designed to keep the popular technology useful in the future.
Approximately 25% of U.S. farmers no longer follow Environmental Protection Agency requirements to plant conventional corn "refuge fields." Those fields are crucial to ensuring that the pests — corn borers and corn rootworms — don't become resistant to the pesticide the plants have been engineered to make.

About 65% of genetically engineered (GE) corn contains a gene from a common soil bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, which produces a chemical that kills either corn rootworms or corn borers. EPA required refuge fields to ensure that that some insects had non-GE corn to eat, so that not all would develop resistance to the genetically engineered corn. The insecticide produced by the corn is very mild. Organic growing rules allow the use of Bt bacterium sprays.

Corn engineered to contain Bt genes is safe for the environment, for humans and for non-target species, the EPA says.

The new compliance information comes from reports produced by the companies that sell genetically engineered corn seed, and if anything they may understate the problem, says Gregory Jaffe, director of the biotechnology project with the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). The group, which neither supports nor opposes genetically engineered crops, filed federal Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain the data, which EPA requires the companies to file every year based on surveys and visits to farmers growing the corn.

"The public expects EPA to watch out for and protect the long term interest of farmers and the environment. But the last few years they've clearly been asleep at the job," Jaffe says.

The report looks specifically at corn genetically engineered to produce the Bt pesticide. As of 2009, 63% of the corn planted in the U.S. was Bt corn, according to the USDA. Industry reports submitted to EPA show that that upwards of 13.2 million acres of corn — almost 15% of all corn acreage planted in the U.S. — is out of compliance with EPA regulations designed to keep these Bt corn varieties viable. The report was issued today.

"The combination of the downward trend in compliance and the tremendous increase in adoption of this technology together are increasing the likelihood that this technology might not be around to help future generations of farmers control pests using an easy, environmentally sound pest control method. That's why EPA put these restrictions in place, they wanted to protect them as a public good," says Jaffe.

In response to the drop in compliance, the industry "initiated a new, reinvigorated education campaign together with National Corn Growers Association and universities, to reinforce to growers the important role they play in making sure this technology is available for the long run," says Nicholas Storer. He is the chair of the the industry's Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Technical Committee, which is responsible for coordinating the compliance assurance program

"EPA will carefully evaluate this new report. If EPA identifies additional measures that are needed to prevent insect resistance or safeguard the environment, EPA will pursue the necessary actions," spokesman Dale Kemery says.

Resistance causes two main problems. It requires farmers to go back to using more harmful insecticides, raising the amount of insecticides sprayed on fields. It could also lower the effectiveness of Bt microbial spays used by organic farmers, says Jaffe.

From 1996 to 2005 over 90% of farmers complied with EPA requirements. But beginning in 2006 those rates dropped sharply. By 2008, the last year for which there are reports available, as many as 25% of farmers using the pesticide-producing corn were not fulfilling their obligations, the reports show.