Another rapidly developing trend with significant implications for production agriculture is the use of biotechnology to genetically modify plants for desired traits such as pest resistance, improved yield, enhanced nutrition or better flavor. Already a number of genetically engineered ag products are on the market, and that list is growing rapidly.

Farmers can now, for example, plant corn and cotton varieties in which scientists have inserted genes of a naturally occurring bacterium - a bacterium which, in turn, makes the plant toxic to certain insects (such as the European corn borer) that prey upon it. That bacterium - Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt - allows the producer to reduce or eliminate the use of insecticides to control the targeted pest. That's good for the farmer's pocketbook, and for the environment.

Another major biotech development involves seeds that carry an inserted gene that makes them resistant to a certain non-selective herbicide. Such varieties are already available in crops like soybeans, corn, canola and cotton. Work with additional crops is well under way. With this resistance, the herbicide (which normally would kill the crop along with the weeds) can be sprayed on the field and control the weeds while not harming the crop itself.

While the biotech industry must be - and is - closely regulated, what some of the most ardent opponents seem to forget is that we have been moving in this direction for literally centuries. Traditional agriculture has long used cross-breeding and hybridization to improve the yield and quality of crops and to overcome natural obstacles such as plant diseases and insect pests. Agricultural scientists (both in plant and animal disciplines) have been breeding in good traits and breeding out bad ones for many years. Their success stories flourish in countless fields and feedlots around the globe - and ultimately on the consumer's dinner plate. Biotechnology is, at its essence, a much faster and cleaner method of achieving similar objectives.

Scientists use enzymes to cut and remove individual genetic information from one organism and transplant it into (or recombine it with) another organism. Agriculture is but one segment of society where biotechnology has taken hold. Other examples would include industrial (e.g., textile and detergent enzymes), environmental (e.g., clean up of hazardous waste), DNA fingerprinting and, of course, the health care field (e.g., insulin for diabetics).

Ag industry sources indicate that crops genetically modified via bioengineering for pest control were planted on about 16 million U.S. acres in 1997. Soybeans resistant to the herbicide glyphostate (e.g., Roundup Ultra) were planted on approximately nine million acres last season, while corn and cotton carrying the Bt toxin went on about five million U.S. acres.

As greater seed quantities of these and other biotech products become available, farmers are expected to greatly expand their plantings of such varieties. About 71 million acres of soybeans were planted in the United States in 1997. It's estimated that about 60 percent of the nation's soybean acres will eventually be planted to Roundup-resistant varieties, with another 15 percent to varieties resistant to another non selective herbicide, Liberty.

The nation planted 80 million acres of corn last season. It's predicted that 10 percent of corn acres will eventually use a Bt hybrid; 20 percent will have a Roundup-resistant variety; an additional 10 percent will be seeded to Liberty-resistant varieties; and another 15 percent of corn acres will be sown to varieties that are resistant to a family of herbicides known as the imidazilinones.

Will all this occur smoothly and without a hitch? Probably not. History tells us that any new technology is likely to carry with it certain difficulties and roadblocks. Still, as one who has used genetically engineered insulin for the past eight years and who has some knowledge of the regulatory (USDA, EPA and FDA) hoops through which any genetically modified crop must jump, I have few qualms about the value or safety of such crops for those who consume them. I'm also cognizant of the environmental benefits these altered crops can provide.

It's another example where good science, coupled with sufficient safeguards, is changing the face of agriculture - for the better.