Table 1. GM HT soybeans: summary of average farm level economic impacts 1996–2012 ($/hectare).
| Country | Cost of technology | Average farm income benefit (after deduction of cost of technology) | Type of benefit | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st generation GM HT soybeans | ||||
| Romania (to 2006 only) | 50–60 | 104 | Small cost savings of about $9/ha, balance due to yield gains of +13% to +31% | Brookes (2005)5 Monsanto Romania (2007)6 |
| Argentina | 2–4 | 22 plus second crop benefits of 213 | Cost savings plus second crop gains | Qaim and Trazler (2005)7 Trigo and CAP (2006)8 and updated from 2008 to reflect herbicide price changes |
| Brazil | 11–25 | 34 | Cost savings | Parana Department of Agriculture (2004)9 Galveo (2010, 2012, and 2013)10-12 |
| USA | 15–39 | 38 | Cost savings | Marra et al. (2002)13 Carpenter and Gianessi (2002)14 Sankala and Blumenthal (2003 and 2006)15,16 Johnson and Strom (2008)17 And updated to reflect herbicide price and common product usage |
| Canada | 20–40 | 20 | Cost savings | George Morris Center (2004)18 and updated to reflect herbicide price and common product usage |
| Paraguay | 4–10 | 17 plus second crop benefits of 213 | Cost savings | Based on Argentina as no country-specific analysis identified; impacts confirmed by industry sources and herbicide costs updated 2009 onwards from herbicide usage survey data (AMIS Global) |
| Uruguay | 2–4 | 22 | Cost savings | Based on Argentina as no country-specific analysis identified. Impacts confirmed by industry sources and herbicide costs updated 2009 onwards from herbicide usage survey data (AMIS Global) |
| South Africa | 20–30 | 4 | Cost savings | As there are no published studies available, based on data from industry sources and herbicide costs updated 2009 onwards from herbicide usage survey data (AMIS Global) |
| Mexico | 20–25 | 48 | Cost savings plus yield gain in range of +2% to +13% | Monsanto unpublished annual monitoring reports and personal communications |
| Bolivia | 3–4 | 80 | Cost savings plus yield gain of +15% | Fernandez W et al. (2009)19 |
| 2ndt generation GM HT soybeans | ||||
| US and Canada | 47–65 | 149 (US) 129 (Can) |
Cost savings as first generation plus yield gains in range of +5% to +11% | As first generation GM HT soybeans plus farm level survey data from Monsanto USA (2011 and 2012) |
(1) Romania stopped growing GM HT soybeans in 2007 after joining the European Union, where the trait is not approved for planting. (2) The range in values for cost of technology relates to annual changes in the average cost paid by farmers. It varies for reasons such as the price of the technology set by seed companies, exchange rates, average seed rates and values identified in different studies. (3) For additional details of how impacts have been estimated, see examples in Supplemental Materials, Appendix 1.