A grower champions the cause…
A grower champions the cause…
By Andrew Swallow
GM trials – would you have them on your farm? Lincs grower Ronald Duguid does, and is adamant the work must go on.
Late lifted potatoes left many growers fields in a mess last spring. But few chose to recover the ground with a crop of genetically modified maize.
"It was heading for set-aside or flax," says Mr Duguid. "Then we received a circular letter from AgrEvo looking for GM trial sites. I thought this sounds more interesting and it has gone from there."
After such a chance introduction to GM trials, Mr Duguid now has a fundamental belief that the field work on GMs must go on. He has a 10ha (25-acre) herbicide tolerant winter oilseed rape test crop on his farm this year, despite a number of protests last summer.
"At the time I did not realise it was going to be such a hot potato. It was not from any burning interest in GM crops that we responded to the letter," he says.
One demonstration resulted in substantial crop damage, but not of the GM maize. Such destructive protests are deplorable, he says. "These trials are needed to satisfy the public of the safety of GM crops. We have to be able to go through with them to do that."
The 10ha (25-acre) GM and equal size comparative crop on his Lincoln heath farm are closely watched for their impact on the environment.
"The monitoring is very intensive – they watched the maize closely all season and have made a lot of monitoring visits to the oilseed rape already. Beetle traps, collection points, anything that moves, they are counting it."
Mr Duguids own impression of the maize trial was that the glufosinate-ammonium tolerant crop was far more environmentally friendly than the conventional crop. "The atrazine treated crop was completely sterile underneath, whereas under the GM maize there was a little weed growth and there seemed to be more insect life, both before and after the Liberty spray."
The Liberty (glufosinate ammonium) then kills all the weeds, and the maize takes off, he says. "But the soil is still fertile underneath, so a few small weeds develop. There was certainly more wildlife in the crop."
When the crops were harvested geese grazed on the GM stubble, but steered clear of the conventional field. "Maybe they could sense the atrazine on the soil?" he suggests.
Such first-hand experience makes it hard to understand why people are so against the technology. But turning the tide of public opinion will take time and persistence, he concedes.
"The hysteria is like the French and our beef, it ignores the science. And at government level it does not seem a lot different."
The oilseed rape trial has so far escaped the attentions of demonstrators, but Mr Duguid has been notified of a planned pre-Christmas protest. "It is organised by some group calling themselves the Self-Appointed Guardians of the Environment. They say it will be non-destructive, and the police have been informed."
Last Augusts protest led to 46 arrests. "Mostly professional protestors with records from Manchester airport, Newbury bypass, or anti-hunting demonstrations. We had a very successful result," he says.
Crop trials
Mr Duguids winter oilseed rape trial is one of only three sown this autumn. Twenty-five were planned, but only five growers were found in time for drilling. Two of those dropped out. "One Notts farmer agreed to a trial, and called a meeting in the local village hall about it. That was probably a mistake as he got shot down in flames to the extent that he withdrew the trial," says Mr Duguid. The other trial was caught by a ban on sowing winter crops under the same licence as spring crop trials. Mr Duguid is adamant that many more growers would have hosted trials. "The farmers I talk to all say they would be very happy to have the work on their land. Perhaps AgrEvo were not as aggressive as they might have been, certainly they are frightened of media attention." He hopes sufficient sites will be found for the 25 spring oilseed rape and 25 maize trials planned, otherwise GM crop development will be set back a further year, he fears.
GM GROWER EXPERIENCE
• More in-crop wildlife.
• Work must go on.
• £700/ha payment for growing crop.
• Harvest produce destroyed – reluctantly.
GM GROWER EXPERIENCE
• More in-crop wildlife.
• Work must go on.
• £700/ha payment for growing crop.
• Harvest produce destroyed – reluctantly.
Crop trials face stiff opposition
Mr Duguids winter oilseed rape trial is one of only three sown this autumn. Twenty-five were planned, but only five growers were found in time for drilling. Two of those dropped out. "One Notts farmer agreed to a trial, and called a meeting in the local village hall about it. That was probably a mistake as he got shot down in flames to the extent that he withdrew the trial," says Mr Duguid. The other trial was caught by a ban on sowing winter crops under the same licence as spring crop trials. Mr Duguid is adamant that many more growers would have hosted trials. "The farmers I talk to all say they would be very happy to have the work on their land. Perhaps AgrEvo were not as aggressive as they might have been, certainly they are frightened of media attention." He hopes sufficient sites will be found for the 25 spring oilseed rape and 25 maize trials planned, otherwise GM crop development will be set back a further year, he fears.