Fall armyworm (FAW) has infiltrated six [Australian] states and territories and is so hard to control farmers are whispering about a method that’s been off the table for almost two decades — genetically modified (GM) corn.
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Fall armyworm is native to the United States, where it has devastated multiple agricultural crops, but growers there have different tools to fight it, [such as Bt crops.]
Australia only grows three GM crops — cotton, safflower and canola.
Corn has remained GM-free and, as a consequence, the industry has been able to access different markets including Japan and Korea.
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“End users such as snack food and cornflake breakfast cereal manufacturers have told us the whole time they do not want GM in their raw materials,” [Maize Association of Australia chairman Stephen] Wilson said.
“It would impact on both the export market and also on all the domestic markets — everything from dairy cows utlising the maize as grain or silage right through to beef cattle and right through to human consumption.
“It’s a major, major, major impact that would need to be agreed to by all sectors of the industry.”
