From the Farmers Perspective

Darren McNabb is a fourth generation Canadian farmer/Bioelectric Engineer who

farms grains and oilseeds alongside his parents and daughter on the family farm
outside a small coal mining town called Forestburg, in south-central Alberta. For
the last 23 years, Darren has worked with and farmed genetically modified canola
seed, and agreed to be interviewed about his experience and thoughts on GMOs.
What is your overall opinion on GMOs?
My opinion is that they help produce more food than would be possible without them. If you
want the blunt truth of it, if I could make money farming without them, I would. But I cant. Its
impossible. If you want to make a living farming and receive a large profit with more product,
you need to grow GMOs.
What is your biggest issue with GMO crops?
My biggest issue with it is the astronomical price of growing GMO canola seed. If you do an
extrapolation, lets say canola is 10$ a bushel to sell. That same year when it comes time to buy
the seed, Monsanto sells that same bushel of canola back to me for 450$! Thats wrong. Along
that same line, Im not allowed to plant the seeds that I grew the year before because some guy in
a corporate office owns them and wants me to keep spending the 450$ a bushel every year for
new seed. I firmly believe there should be a law against people owning anything that grows.
From your own experience, does it improve your yield/nutrient content?
Absolutely. Being able to spray a non-specific herbicide* like roundup has changed farming
forever.
*a herbicide that kills all plants except your crop

What did you do before roundup ready (herbicide resistant) canola?

We had to use all different herbicides for all different weeds. And with canola, you couldnt
spray out any broadleaf weeds because canola itself is a broadleaf weed. There was very limited
amounts of control for in-crop canola. It was polluted with weeds by the time you harvested it.
Because it was so polluted with weeds, you got less of a crop then?
Oh yeah. We get a way better crop now.
Has the land quality decreased since you started growing GMOs? Do they really cause
genetic pollution?
It does, without a doubt cause genetic pollution, because now that GMO canola has been planted
by so many for so long, you cant grow non- GMO canola in Canada anymore. Thats not
debatable. Its not an environmental issue, though. Since we dont cultivate anymore, our land
quality is much better than it was 30 years ago. Our land has benefitted from GMO canola for
sure. If you were still using non-GMO canola, youd have to summer fallow*, which would
mean less product and more environmental damage.
*summer fallowing is the practice of not planting a crop on a piece of land for an entire growing season
while cultivating the soil to reduce weeds for the next crop.

If farmers were all to start farming organically would it be a sustainable practice?

No. And I mean, that would cut production probably in half. And as a side note, I would say that
out of 100 organic farmers, 90% of them do things that arent exactly organic in order succeed.
Its almost impossible to have a 100% organic crop. If someone tells you they run a 100%
organic operation, theyre what I like to call: liars.
Do you think that GMOs are marketed sustainably? I like to say its like when Edison
started selling lightbulbs. People were scared of electricity- they didnt want it in their homes
because they thought it was dangerous. Its [GMOs] here, and I hope the rules about it change,
but I cant imagine there being no GMO canola. Can you imagine? If we had to go back to
farming like we did thirty years ago? Thats counter-productive. Again, I hope the rules change,
but to feed our growing world, people will come to understand that we need GMOs.
In regards to what you grow, is it ultimately up to the consumer whether or not you grow
genetically modified food? Absolutely. Ultimately, the only way you can sell something is if
people are willing to buy it. If people said they wouldnt buy GMO canola and nobody bought it,
I wouldnt be growing it because theres no profit. Ultimately, the consumer is always in control.
They dont always know it, but they are.
What is your opinion on Anti-GMO activists?
I think that if youre going to have an opinion you should base it on science. I think those people
have too much time on their hands. If they were protesting with science behind them, thats one
thing, but they arent. I wouldnt feed what I grow to my family if I didnt know that its 100%
safe. They should be fighting Monsanto- the people who want to control the food supply, not the
farmers.
These people think GMOs cause cancer and other ailments. Why do they think that?
Because people are afraid of new things- I go back to the lightbulb. Theyre afraid of what they
dont understand.
If they were to talk with scientists and farmers, do you think their opinions on GMOs
might change?
They might. I doubt it, though. Theyre opinion in the first place wasnt placed on facts, so why
would facts change their minds? Their opinions arent evidence based on the first place. Where
did they come up with their ideas? I cant tell you, and neither can they.
What would create better market sustainability for GMOs? What do you think
farmers/scientists can do to better inform consumers?
Its already a sustainable market. The industry is already doing a great job of promoting canola
oil and the benefits of canola oil. It contains more anti-oxidants, its better than any other
vegetable oil out there. Theres nothing wrong with it- no science to confirm theres anything
wrong with it. These people arent going to pay attention to what farmers and scientists have to
say. They have it stuck in their head that natural used to be better and when you remind them
that people only lived to be thirty when everything was natural- then they dont want to talk to
you anymore.