Table 1.
GM HT soybeans: summary of average gross farm level income impacts 1996–2018 ($/hectare).
| Country | Cost of technology | Average gross farm income benefit (after deduction of cost of technology) | Aggregate income benefit (million $) | Type of benefit | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st generation GM HT soybeans | |||||
| Romania (to 2006 only) | 50–60 | 104 | 44.6 | Small cost savings of about $9/ha, balance due to yield gains of +13% to +31% | Brookes1 Monsanto Romania5 |
| Argentina | 2–4 | 22.4 plus second crop benefits of 216 | 21,137.2 | Cost savings plus second crop gains | Qaim and Traxler6 Trigo and CAP7 and updated from 2008 to reflect herbicide usage and price changes |
| Brazil | 7–25 | 32.5 | 8,267.9 | Cost savings | Parana Department of Agriculture8 Galveo9-12 and updated to reflect herbicide usage and price changes |
| US | 15–57 | 35.4 | 13,773.6 | Cost savings | Marra et al13 Carpenter and Gianessi14 Sankala and Blumenthal15,16 Johnson and Strom17 And updated to reflect herbicide price and common product usage |
| Canada | 20–40 | 20.3 | 223.5 | Cost savings | George Morris Center18 and updated to reflect herbicide price and common product usage |
| Paraguay | 4–10 | 16.7 plus second crop benefits of 245 | 1,384.2 | Cost savings | Based on Argentina as no country-specific analysis identified. Impacts confirmed by industry sources and herbicide costs and usage updated 2009 onwards from herbicide survey data (AMIS Global/Kleffman) |
| Uruguay | 2–4 | 20.9 | 227.6 | Cost savings | Based on Argentina as no country-specific analysis identified. Impacts confirmed by industry sources and herbicide costs and usage updated 2009 onwards from herbicide survey data (AMIS Global/Kleffman) |
| South Africa | 2–30 | 8.1 | 46.8 | Cost savings | As there are no published studies available, based on data from industry sources and herbicide costs and usage updated 2009 onwards from herbicide survey data (AMIS Global/Kleffman) |
| Mexico | 20–47 | 40 | 6.1 | Cost savings plus yield impacts in range of −2% to +13% | Monsanto annual monitoring reports submitted to Ministry of Agriculture and personal communications |
| Bolivia | 3–4 | 109 | 874.0 | Cost savings plus yield gain of +15% | Fernandez W et al19 |
| 2ndt generation GM HT soybeans | |||||
| US and Canada | 46–67 | 115.6 (US) 97.5 (Can) |
17,379 (US) 904.7 (Can) |
Cost savings as first generation plus yield gains in range of +5% to +11% | As first-generation GM HT soybeans plus annual farm level survey data from Monsanto USA |
| Intacta soybeans | |||||
| Brazil | 33–56 | 110.9 | 8,486.6 | Herbicide cost saving as 1st generation plus insecticide saving $19/ha and yield gain +9% to +10% | Monsanto Brazil pre commercial trials and post market (farm survey) monitoring, MB Agro20 |
| Argentina | 19–56 | 64.5 | 840.2 | Herbicide cost saving as 1st generation plus insecticide saving $21/ha and yield gain +7% to +9% | Monsanto Argentina pre commercial trials and post market monitoring surveys |
| Paraguay | 19–56 | 130.9 | 880.8 | Herbicide cost saving as 1st generation plus insecticide saving $33/ha and yield gain +9% to +13% | Monsanto Paraguay pre commercial trials and post market monitoring surveys |
| Uruguay | 19–56 | 66 | 118.2 | Herbicide cost saving as 1st generation plus insecticide saving $19/ha and yield gain +7% to +9% | Monsanto Uruguay pre commercial trials and post market monitoring surveys |
1. Romania stopped growing GM HT soybeans in 2007 after joining the European Union, where the trait is not approved for planting. Mexico did not plant any GM HT soybeans in 2017 or 2018
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. Intacta soybeans (HT and IR) first grown commercially in 2013
4. For additional details of how impacts have been estimated, see examples in Appendix 1
5. AMIS Global/Kleffmann are subscription-based data sources (derived from farmer surveys) on pesticide use
6. References to Monsanto Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as sources of data from pre-commericalisation trials and post market monitoring – this is unpublished data provided to the authors by these companies on a yearly basis covering seed premium, yield comparisons and cost of insecticide/number of insecticide treatment comparisons for Intacta crops versus conventional and GM HT (only) crops. The data derives from survey-based monitoring of sites growing each crop