There's no doubt about it: emotions run high at the annual National No-Tillage Conference. Why? Because no-tillers are passionate about what they do and how they do it. Taking home a wrong idea and implementing it could cost thousands of dollars, or worse, could cause the farm to fold.

Welcome to dealing with the GMO nightmare!

In the opening general session of this year’s eighth annual National No-Tillage Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, two no-tillers, a crop consultant and a seed rep sounded off about their personal and professional opinions about GMO.

Jim Andrew, Jefferson, Iowa

No-tilling for 8 years, Jim Andrew serves on the Iowa corn promotion board and as a director of the U.S. Grains council. Naturally, dealing with GMO crops is something that hit close to home.

To get more information, Andrew traveled to Seattle, Wash., in early December to attend the World Trade Organization (WTO) where the topic of genetically modified crops was to be explored.

“You would not believe how this quiet city of Seattle went to out of control riots in 24 hours,” he says. “One woman was pregnant and got pushed on the ground. That’s when I knew this wasn’t something to be taken lightly.”

After asking protesters what GMO stood for, all he got was blank stares.

“The number one rallying cry was GMO!” he says. “It was the most disturbing thing. We need to spread the message for sound science. Emotion and non-fact based decisions are not acceptable!”

“We are facing…