IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i16p8843-d610298.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Engaging Farmer Stakeholders: Maize Producers’ Perceptions of and Strategies for Managing On-Farm Genetic Diversity in the Upper Midwest

Author

Listed:
  • Cathleen McCluskey

    (Department of Agronomy, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA)

  • William F. Tracy

    (Department of Agronomy, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA)

Abstract

Debates about the genetic diversity of cultivated crops have riled the scientific community. While there have been studies on measuring genetic diversity among crop types, none have described on-farm genetic diversity in U.S. maize ( Zea mays ) because of patent restrictions. The approximately 36.5 million hectares of U.S. maize planted by farmers annually is carried out largely without them having knowledge of the seed genetic background. The literature shows a shrinking of genetic diversity in commercially available hybrids over time. Given the restrictions on the genetic information given to farmers about their maize seed and the risk it poses to their landscape, we conducted twenty exploratory interviews with farmers in the Upper Midwest regarding their perspectives of and strategies for managing on-farm genetic diversity in their maize crop. The data gathered suggest five themes: (1) managing surface diversity by planting multiple varieties; (2) navigating seed relabeling; (3) lacking clear access to genetic background information; (4) reliance on seed dealers when selecting varieties; and (5) limited quality genetics for organic systems. This study concludes that the lack of access to genetic background data for public researchers, including the United States Department of Agriculture and farmers, does not allow for vulnerability assessments to be carried out on the landscape and puts farmers at risk to crop failure.

Suggested Citation

  • Cathleen McCluskey & William F. Tracy, 2021. "Engaging Farmer Stakeholders: Maize Producers’ Perceptions of and Strategies for Managing On-Farm Genetic Diversity in the Upper Midwest," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-14, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:8843-:d:610298
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/16/8843/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/16/8843/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. MacDonald, James M., 2017. "Mergers and Competition in Seed and Agricultural Chemical Markets," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, issue 03, April.
    2. Glenna, Leland & Bruce, Analena, 2021. "Suborning science for profit: Monsanto, glyphosate, and private science research misconduct," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Benjamin C. Anderson & Ian M. Sheldon, 2024. "R&D Concentration in Soybean and Cotton Markets," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 64(1), pages 93-115, February.
    2. Madeline Turland & Peter Slade, 2020. "Farmers' willingness to participate in a big data platform," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(1), pages 20-36, January.
    3. Analena B. Bruce & Yetkin Borlu & Leland L. Glenna, 2023. "Assessing the scientific support for U.S. EPA pesticide regulatory policy governing active and inert ingredients," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, March.
    4. Anton Babkin & Richard A. Dunn & Brent Hueth & Elan Segarra, 2022. "Employment and payroll dynamics in support services for agriculture," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(3), pages 1482-1498, September.
    5. Philip Watson & Jason Winfree, 2022. "Should we use antitrust policies on big agriculture?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(3), pages 1313-1326, September.
    6. MacDonald, James M. & Dong, Xiao & Fuglie, Keith O., 2023. "Concentration and Competition in U.S. Agribusiness," Economic Information Bulletin 337566, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Rotolo, Daniele & Camerani, Roberto & Grassano, Nicola & Martin, Ben R., 2022. "Why do firms publish? A systematic literature review and a conceptual framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    8. Lacy, William & Merilus, Jean-Yves & Liu , Xiaoguang & Lacy , Laura R., 2022. "Role of University International Partnerships for Research & Education: Leaders’ Critical Insights & Recommendations," University of California at Berkeley, Center for Studies in Higher Education qt8vx8p3nv, Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:8843-:d:610298. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.