For Biotech Crops, a Quarter Century of ‘Emotion Over Science’
February 10, 2025 In 2025, the world is celebrating a quarter century of the 21st century. Coincidentally, I am also celebrating the same milestone — now having covered the agricultural marketplace for 25 years.
Suffice to say, I (and agriculture) have seen lots of changes during this time. Consolidation has steadily reduced the number of players within the agricultural world to a handful of giants in such sectors as fertilizer, crop protection, and equipment. Herbicide resistant weeds have multiplied in numbers across the globe, forcing crop protection companies to come up with new and different combinations of products to try to stay ahead of the curve. Finally, high-tech innovations in the areas of drones, autonomous vehicles, and artificial intelligence (AI) have already made some big impressions on the industry — and promise to do so even more throughout the rest of the 2020s.
Yet, throughout all the changes in agriculture these past 25 years, one constant has remained — the adoption of biotech crops has been ruled by more emotion than science. When these genetically-engineered plants first started appearing in the mid-1990s with their promise to improve yields and resist crop pests/diseases, there were many who “felt” these offerings were “not right somehow.” In fact, many countries around the world — particularly in the European Union — forbade the use/importation of these crops. This “anti-biotech” movement became even worse in the fall of 2000, when traces of biotech-derived StarLink crops — which were supposed to only be used in animal feed because of the chance of “negative interaction” in humans — were found in taco shells. For many anti-biotech proponents, this was “proof that Big Agriculture was trying to force biotech crops onto consumers without their knowledge.”
For the past 25 years, I’ve watched and reported on the adoption rates for biotech crops, as well as looking at their acceptance level among global consumers. Despite hundreds of science-based research studies into their safety by global agencies and independent researchers, the emotion-based views of biotech crops remain as entrenched as ever. In 2000, better than 95% of all biotech crops were grown in only three countries — Argentina, Brazil, and the U.S. Today, in 2025, this remains the case.
The latest dust up regarding biotech crops occurred between the U.S. and Mexico. For several years now, the Mexican government has been attempting to restrict the sale of U.S. grown biotech corn to customers within its borders. U.S. growers and their supporting associations have said this ban is in violation of the U.S./Mexico/Canada Agreement of 2020.
For the past few years, both countries have pleaded their cases for and against this corn ban. Finally, in late 2024, a designated Dispute Panel sided with the U.S., ruling that Mexico’s ban was “more emotion than science based.”
If nothing else, this proves that the emotional basis against biotech crops hasn’t been changed during the last quarter century. I only hope the next 25 years might give biotech crop science the chance to make some positive headway.
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