Quality Seeds located in Sheldon, Wisconsin
Blog by Whitney Brand, Seed Consultant
Why Non-GMO?
Matter of principal for Gene. In 1994, he made a decision to not go GMO route, when everyone else was going that way. He remembers getting a stewardship agreement, which said a farmer that plants this (referring to GMO) will be responsible for whatever happens to the environment, human or animal health. To him, he felt unethical being responsible for any of that. He chooses Non-GMO because it’s sustainable.
Gene has never bought a bag of GMO or sold a bag either.
What excites you about farming in the next 5 years?
Gene got into Spectrum, because most people were not interested in advertising Non-GMO. As we are Non-GMO, on purpose. He mentioned stories of several farmers who would have bags of what they thought was Non-GMO, then when they reached the elevators, the whole load was condemned because the grain didn’t meet requirements. Meaning, farmers were given seed that doesn’t have any wiggle room for contamination or cross pollination. So what he’s most excited about is that before, there was no seed in the industry that could guarantee purity. With Non-GMO becoming more prevalent, that’s no longer the case. There’s seed meeting the requirements, and not just by a small thread.
What benefits have you seen from dealing Non-GMO?
As mentioned once before, Gene is happy with the whole corn industry system moving toward Non-GMO. He does a lot of reading, and has seen the pike in interest toward Non-GMO. Which is a good thing for him, considering that’s what seed he’s dealing. He also sees the Ztrap program as a positive and overall benefit, because the traps are showing money wasted being spent on corn that’s no longer yielding.
It’s Gene’s second year selling Spectrum, and likes what he sees so far. “We’ve always been about trying to prove on a local level whether we have the best or not.” I felt that was worth quoting because Gene stands behind what we believe here at Spectrum.
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About the Author
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