For farmers in the USA, genetically modified (GM) crops are a matter of
course. In 2008, GM crops were cultivated on almost 60 million hectares.
This represents a growth of ten per cent in comparison to 2007, as can be
read in the cultivation statistics published on 30 June by the US-American
Department of Agriculture.

A significant expansion of GM lines has been observed for maize. The
cultivation of GM types increased by seven percentage points and now
represents 80 percent of all planted maize. Almost one half of GM maize used
in 2008 displays combined resistance to insects and herbicides (due to the
presence of ?stacked genes?). However, the field surface occupied by GM
maize has remained almost unchanged (with a slight rise from 27.4 to 27.7
million hectares) as a result of a general reduction in maize area.

In the case of soybean, GM varieties have attained near-exclusivity. Having
risen by one percentage point, such soybeans now comprise 92 per cent of
total soybean cultivation. This figure rises to more than 95 per cent in the
states of Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota and Nebraska. Since
significantly greater quantities of soybean were planted in comparison to
the previous year, the cultivated field area of GM soybean has risen from
23.6 to 27.7 million hectares.

GM cotton has fallen slightly from 87 to 86 per cent. The total field area
for cotton in the USA has attained its lowest acreage since 1983 and now
occupies only 3.7 million hectares. Consequently, the field area for GM
cotton has been reduced to 3.2 million hectares (2007: 3.9 million
hectares).

The official cultivation statistics of the USA Department of Agriculture are
published each year in June. The statistics are processed by the National
Agricultural Statistics Service, known as NASS, and are based on the
evaluation of seed sales and on representative polls of farmers.
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