non-gmoreport.comhttp://www.non-gmoreport.com/articles/february2014/study-finds-GMO-crop-system-reduces-herbicides-enhances-soils-increases-yields.php
Harvesting alfalfa at Iowa State University’s Marsden Farm.
Photo by David N. Sundberg
What happens when you add diversity to Iowa’s conventional
corn-soybean cropping system? An Iowa State University agronomist has
found that you can reduce herbicide inputs, maintain and even improve
weed suppression, enhance soil quality by several measures, plus boost
grain yields. The study also found that non-GMO crops performed better
than genetically modified varieties.
The cropping system research began in 2002, conducted by ISU agronomy professor Matt Liebman at the ISU Marsden Farm in Boone County. This 22-acre field experiment assesses agrichemical input use, yields, weed dynamics, economic characteristics and soil functions of diversified and simpler (two-year) crop rotation systems. The diversified corn-soybean systems are three- and four-year rotations that include oats and organic matter amendments, such as manure. In 2008, the experiment added a comparison of genetically modified and non-GMO corn and soybeans.
Results of this study indicate that the diversified three- and four-year crop rotation systems produced high yields of corn and soybeans and suppressed weeds effectively, while receiving only a fraction of the synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides used for a conventionally managed corn-soybean rotation. Among the six rotation systems and technology package combinations evaluated during 2008-2012, the highest level of profitability was obtained from the 3-year corn-soybean-oat/red clover rotation that did not employ GM crops.
The study was funded as part of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture’s long-running competitive grants program.
just LOOK how easy it would B ...2 fix this mess ? just going back to NATURE /NATURAL ..what will it cost U.S. folks

Photo by David N. Sundberg
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The cropping system research began in 2002, conducted by ISU agronomy professor Matt Liebman at the ISU Marsden Farm in Boone County. This 22-acre field experiment assesses agrichemical input use, yields, weed dynamics, economic characteristics and soil functions of diversified and simpler (two-year) crop rotation systems. The diversified corn-soybean systems are three- and four-year rotations that include oats and organic matter amendments, such as manure. In 2008, the experiment added a comparison of genetically modified and non-GMO corn and soybeans.
Results of this study indicate that the diversified three- and four-year crop rotation systems produced high yields of corn and soybeans and suppressed weeds effectively, while receiving only a fraction of the synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides used for a conventionally managed corn-soybean rotation. Among the six rotation systems and technology package combinations evaluated during 2008-2012, the highest level of profitability was obtained from the 3-year corn-soybean-oat/red clover rotation that did not employ GM crops.
The study was funded as part of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture’s long-running competitive grants program.
© Copyright The Organic & Non-GMO Report, February 2014
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