The Food & Environment Reporting Network has a nice piece by Elizabeth Royte about farmers opting out of genetically engineered seeds to take advantage of emerging non-GMO markets. I’ve covered this ground myself, and like me, Royte had no problem finding farmers who said they could make more money without transgenics.
One new point of interest: It seems that small seed companies are rising to meet the demand. Royte suggests that the large companies protect their investment in GE seed by charging artificially high prices for their non-GE varieties. And that’s buoying upstarts:
Into this breach, smaller companies that specialize in non-GMO seed have leapt. West Des Moines–based eMerge Genetics has averaged 30 percent growth in each of the last five years. Sales at Spectrum Seed Solutions, based in Linden, Indiana, have doubled every year of the four it’s been in business.
Its president, Scott Odle, believes that non-GMO corn could be 20 percent of the market in five years.
It’s worth reading the whole, well-written piece.
