How GMO crops conquered the United States
The US Department of Agriculture recently posted new data on how genetically modified crops have taken over American farms in the past decade. It's worth taking a look at some of the highlights:
1) More than 93% of corn, soy, and cotton in the US is now genetically modified
In 2014, GMO crops made up 94 percent of US soybean acreage, 93 percent of all corn planted, and 96 percent of all cotton.
That's a big leap even from the previous year (when the figures were 93 percent of soy, 90 percent of corn, and 90 percent of cotton).
It's also worth adding that 95 percent of sugar beets in the United States are now genetically engineered to be herbicide tolerant — an event that took just three years after they were first introduced in 2008. Roughly 55 percent of US sugar production comes from sugar beets.
(There are a number of other GMO crops in the US — including canola, alfafa, papaya, and squash — but the ones above are the big ones.)
more
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/12/5995087/genetically-modified-crops-rise-charts
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