How widespread are biotech crops?
With APHIS approval, over 5,000 field trials have been safely conducted since 1987. About 40 new agricultural products have completed all the federal regulatory requirements (from all relevant agencies) and may be sold commercially. They range from longer-lasting tomatoes to pest-resistant corn. USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) maintains statistics for all crops in the United States, including biotech crops. Statistics for crops can be found at www.usda.gov/nass. The most recent NASS data available indicate that 30 of the crops harvested in the surveyed states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin) were transgenic in 1998 and 33 percent were transgenic in 1999. A report from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) lists the total number acres of transgenic crops by country. According to the ISAAA, in 1998, the United States maintained 51 million acres of transgenic crops and in 1999 maintained 71
