In 2006, farmers in Brazil were the third largest adopter of biotech crops globally – planting more than 28 million acres (11.5 million hectares) of transgenic soybean crops. A primary reasons for the broad adoption of the technology within Brazil has been the significant impact transgenic soybeans have had on farm income levels and the technology’s fit within no-till operations.

"We saw transgenic soy as the solution – as the factor that would make it possible to keep farming. Otherwise, we would not be here," says Waldir José Mingotti, a husband and father of two, who farms 1,875 acres (750 hectares) with his brother in Tupanciretã.

After adopting no-till farming in the 1990s to solve problems with soil erosion, Mingotti notes that they had increased difficulty controlling weeds that previously would have been controlled by plowing. "For each kind of weed that competed with soy, we needed a different herbicide. So you can imagine having 10 weeds – and, for each kind, having to use a different chemical group to control that weed. … It was a nightmare. It became very hard to farm."

With no-till farming, farmers leave the stubble or plant residue on the soil’s surface, rather than plowing or tilling it into the soil. The new crop is planted directly into this stubble, and growers must use herbicides to control weeds as they emerge and fight with the crop for nutrients and sunlight. Transgenic herbicide-tolerant soybeans make it simpler and most economical to control weeds in the crop with fewer herbicides on an as needed basis.

"Before, we would spend 14-15 hours a day in the fields checking and trying to control weeds," Mingotti explains. "Nowadays, it’s possible to plan in advance for weed and disease control. It’s amazing. With transgenic soy, we just plant and never have to worry about weeds."

Research conducted by Brookes and Barfoot indicates that the net savings on herbicide costs has been larger in Brazil than in other world areas due to the high average costs of weed control in Brazil. They report that the average cost savings from reduced herbicide use, fewer spray runs, labor and machinery – after accounting for the cost using the transgenic soybean technology – was between $35/ha and $88/ha in the period 2003-2005. Overall, the adoption of transgenic soybeans increased farm income levels in Brazil by $538 million in 2005. Cumulatively, over the period 1997 to 2005, farm incomes rose $1,367 million.

"… only a few would have continued with agriculture and food production in the way we did before. Thank God we have people, scientists, who devote themselves … to introduce – in a plant, in a crop, in a seed – a new gene that makes it possible for us to believe and produce," says Mingotti. "I support that we pay for that and keep encouraging scientists who are researching and developing new technologies, … because even though transgenic soy solved a problem for us, there may come new problems in the future."

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