Fact Sheets
Agricultural Biotechnology: Helping Increase Crop Yields for America's Farmers
Did You Know?
Since the introduction of agricultural biotechnology, farmers’ crop yields – the amount of grain or fiber produced per acre of land – have increased dramatically in the United States. Crop yields are expected to continue increasing, allowing farmers to produce more corn, soybeans, cotton, and other crops on the same number of acres without having to cultivate additional land.
Corn
In the United States, where today 85% of the nation's corn acreage is planted with biotechnology varieties (USDA ERS, 2009), yields have increased 46% since 1995, the last year before biotech varieties were commercially planted (USDA NASS).
Soybeans
With about 91% of the U.S. soybean acreage now planted with biotech varieties (USDA ERS, 2009), soybean yields have increased 25% since 1995 (USDA NASS).
Cotton
Eighty-eight percent of U.S. cotton is now genetically engineered (USDA ERS, 2009). Cotton yields have increased approximately 25% when comparing 1995/1996 yields to 2009 yield (USDA NASS).
CITATIONS:
United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS) http://www.nass.usda.gov/QuickStats/indexbysubject.jsp?Pass_group=Crops+%26+Plants
Yield increases were calculated by comparing 1995 yields (the year prior to the introduction of biotech varieties) of each crop with 2009 yields of each crop. For the cotton calculation, an average of 1995 and 1996 was used since 1995 was an anomalously low year for cotton yields.
United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service Report, Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S., 2008.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/BiotechCrops/