reducing chemical use, farmers have been using 2 to 5 times more herbicide a degree of tolerance to Roundup is emerging in several key weed species, contributing to chemical usage;

3. the cost to the farmer

the yield drag plus technology fee are bad news for profitability imposing "a sizable indirect tax"(can be over 12 per cent of gross income per acre)

... largely dependent on herbicides and hence are not likely to reduce herbicide use or reliance. Claims otherwise are based on incomplete information or analytically flawed comparisons that do not tell the whole story.

Farmers growing RR soybeans used 2 to 5 times more herbicide measured in pounds applied per acre, compared to the other popular weed management systems used on most soybean fields not planted to RR varieties in 1998. RR herbicide use exceeds the level on many farms using multitactic Integrated Weed Management systems by a factor of 10 or more.

There is clear evidence that Roundup use by farmers planting RR soybeans has risen markedly in 1999 because of the emergence of a degree of tolerance to Roundup in several key weed species, shifts in weeds towards those less sensitive to Roundup, price cuts and aggressive marketing.

GE soybeans are proving the most expensive soybean seed+weed management system in modern history.

It's interesting that independent research is finally starting to catch up with GE crops in the United States.