The EPA has imposed mandatory refuge requirements for Bt crops to prolong the efficacy of Bt. Growers have no economic incentive to plant the required refuge because refuge crops are on average less productive and more risky. This paper evaluates refuge insurance—insurance thatpays indemnities...

The current debate over resistance management plans mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency for transgenic crops ignores management practices that are complementary to refuge schemes. A dynamic production model is developed that measures the costs and benefits of crop rotation and...

Planting Bt corn on large areas may lead to European corn borer (ECB) resistance to Bt. Scientists recommend planting a non-Bt corn refuge as part of a resistance management strategy. Different refuge configurations may impact farm profits differently. This paper analyzes the economics of...

The potential contributions of new biotechnologies to sustainable food and income security have been the subject of widespread discussions around the turn of the twenty-first century. But distributional issues of which segments of GMO adopters benefit the most have not been given ample...

This study presents recent results on the impact of adopting Bt corn on farm profits, yields, and seed and insecticide use. The study employs an econometric model that corrects for self-selection and simultaneity and uses farm-level survey data for 2010. Results confirm previous findings that Bt...

Recent agronomic research finds that economically optimal seeding densities have likely increased for many Midwestern corn farmers as a result of genetic improvements including new GM traits such as Bt corn and herbicide tolerance. We derive a per acre demand model for hybrid seed corn to...

This paper estimates farmer benefits for corn rootworm (CRW) active Bt corn and costs of complying with Environmental Protection Agency insect resistance management requirements. The estimates are obtained from farmer survey data that were collected in Minnesota in 2002, just prior to the...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reregistered Bt corn in 2001 with mandatory Insect Resistance Management (IRM) requirements in order to promote sustainable use by farmers. Since then studies report IRM compliance rates ranging from 80 to 90 percent. Using survey data from...

Agriculturally, South Dakota is a unique state possessing the highest rate of adoption for genetically modified crop varieties. In 2009 ninety-six percent of corn acres planted in South Dakota were genetically modified compared with eighty-five percent nationally (Economic Research Service)....