Drastic changes in the regulation of agricultural biotechnology products might lie ahead for many no-tillers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering an overhaul of the regulations to include consideration of the environmental impact of biotech crops. Since 1987, when the USDA began regulating biotech products, the regulations emphasized only biotech’s effect on human health.

In late October, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a favorable re-registration for atrazine, which paves the way for its continued use by no-tillers. “This decision confirms what extensive scientific studies have shown — that atrazine meets the most stringent regulatory safety standards,’ says Mike Mack, president of Syngenta Crop Protection, an atrazine producer.

The trade dispute between the United States and the European Union over biotech crops, often referred to as genetically modified organisms in Europe, now lies with the World Trade Organization. A final decision could take more than a year, with the availability of European markets to U.S. farmers at stake.

“There are no downsides to biotechnology,” maintains Jay Lehr. The only exception, says the senior scientist with Environmental Education Enterprises in Ostrander, Ohio, is the public’s lack of knowledge about this new phenomena.

Since herbicide-tolerant transgenic cotton varieties became widely available in 1997, the no-till cotton acreage has nearly doubled in the United States. A recent survey by the National Cotton Council indicates that no-till made up 29 percent of total cotton acres while reduced tillage made up 30 percent of all cotton acres in 2002.

Designed to bring together no-tillers and members of the environmental community, an early summer Pacific Northwest tour demonstrated the benefits of direct seeding and the challenges faced by growers moving to this crop production system.

On June 16, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered Gauntlet, a new pre-emergence soybean herbicide from the FMC Agricultural Products Group. This herbicide combines sulfentrazone, the active ingredient in Authority, with cloransulam-methyl, the active ingredient in FirstRate, a herbicide which is manufactured and marketed by Dow AgroSciences.