Adoption of "stacked" GE varieties of corn accelerates

Adoption of herbicide-tolerant (HT) crops, which carry genes that allow them to survive certain herbicides that previously would have destroyed the crop along with the targeted weeds, has been particularly rapid since they first became available to U.S. farmers in 1996. HT-only corn expanded to 23 percent of planted corn acreage in 2011. Adoption of insect-resistant (Bt) crops, containing the gene from a soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), has also expanded. Use of Bt-only corn has remained around 16 percent of planted corn acreage in the last few years. Adoption of "stacked" gene corn varieties, though, has accelerated in recent years, reaching 49 percent of planted corn acres in 2011. This chart comes from the ERS data product, Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S., updated in July 2011.

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