The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has announced that it and companies registering and selling the vast majority of Bt-improved corn hybrids have reached an agreement-in-principle on corn insect resistance management (IRM) for the year 2000. The goal is to present a consistent, unified program to preserve the technology that is practical for growers.

The agreement-in-principle includes five key elements with an accompanying document
providing further details. This represents recommendations for the 2000 growing season and
does not impact the 1999 production season.

"The message from NCGA members is clear: growers want a uniform plan they can easily
adopt,'' said Tim Hume, NCGA Board member from Walsh, Colo. "They want it to be
protective against insect resistance, but practical for their operations.''

The agreement-in-principle, according to Hume, simply means that the companies producing the
majority of Bt corn have agreed on key points necessary to move forward with a unified IRM
plan.

The key elements are:

• One single protective and practical corn refuge requirement for the primary corn-growing region (20%) and one corn refuge requirement for the primary cotton-growing region (50%).
• A clear and consistent IRM grower agreement.
• Effective grower education programs.
• Appropriate surveys to track grower adoption.
• Continued insect susceptibility monitoring

The companies involved are Monsanto, Dekalb, Dow AgroSciences, Mycogen Seeds, Novartis Seeds and Pioneer Hi-Bred International. These companies represent the following Bt corn events: Bt11, MON810, DBT-418 and Event 176. Details of the plan have yet to be finalized through discussion with customers, U.S. EPA and other stakeholders.

All companies involved have been firmly committed to IRM and to refuges, but different companies have been recommending different plans. This marks a movement forward with one plan supported by these parties which will be implemented in the year 2000.

This agreement-in-principle was shared with U.S. EPA four months after the NCGA called the
individual companies together on Sept. 8 in Omaha, Neb. At that meeting, NCGA informed the
companies that the mixed messages about refuge size were confusing and urged the technology
providers to agree on a plan that was clear, concise and practical for growers. Industry
representatives recognized that need and have been working since that time to produce a unified
plan.

"We believe that the plan meets the interest of the U.S. EPA and NCGA in having a practical
program, consistent across the industry, formed by listening to the views of others,'' said Hume.
"These actions will ensure environmental stewardship and product integrity for years to come.''

NCGA recently shared the plan with NC 205, the group of academics who have been studying
insect resistance management and its relationship to Bt. During the NC 205 meeting, an NCGA
grower panel illustrated the practical aspects of managing an insect refuge.

"Insect resistance management is nothing more than an academic concept without grower
adoption,'' said Ron McCartney of Elgin, Iowa, an NCGA grower panelist.

The following key elements have also been developed:

I. Refuge Level:

• Growers, regardless of their geographic location and individual management practices, will be required to plant a minimum of 20% non-Bt corn refuge on their farm.
• A farm is defined as the entire land under cultivation to corn by a grower in that growing season within a county. While the grower has flexibility in planting the non-Bt corn refuge, the companies will continue to recommend that growers plant the refuge nearby plantings of Bt corn.
• On farms where corn borer-active non-Bt conventional insecticides will likely be used, growers will be required to plant the non-Bt corn refuge at a distance no greater than 0.25 miles from the Bt corn planting. Growers will be encouraged to follow appropriate Integrated Pest Management practices and treat only when corn borer densities reach economic threshold levels. In cotton growing areas where plantings of MON810 and BT11 are currently restricted, growers will be required to plant a 20% refuge in the Northern cotton growing region and a 50% refuge in the Southern cotton growing region. Regional boundaries will be reviewed based upon the most current information such as Bt cotton market penetration and corn earworm overwintering
  survival, and adjusted accordingly.

II. IRM Agreement

• Growers will sign an agreement stipulating that they will follow the IRM requirements detailed in Bt corn product grower guides supplied by companies.
• Grower guides supplied by companies will include a uniform set of IRM requirements to all corn growers purchasing Bt corn products (Bt11, MON810, DBT-418, and Event 176 Bt Corn).

III. Grower Education

• It is clear that growers must understand the importance of Bt corn insect resistance management. Therefore, a uniform set of IRM requirements will be developed and communicated through individual seed companies working with organizations such as: USEPA, USDA, NCGA, state and county corn associations and land grant university extension services.
• The companies recognize as well the critical importance of continuing education to ensure IRM program implementation and are committed to education programs.

IV. Grower Adoption of IRM Plan

• Grower surveys will be conducted annually to determine grower adoption of the Bt corn IRM requirements.
• If grower implementation of the required IRM plan falls below acceptable levels in an area, then grower education will be increased and strengthened to improve IRM plan adoption.
• Individual growers who repeatedly do not follow the IRM requirements described in the Bt corn product grower guides will have limited access to the technology in the future.

V. Insect Susceptibility Monitoring

• Registrants will continue to monitor target insect susceptibility as required by USEPA.

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