Beleaguered Farm Scale Trials

Friends of the Earth (FOE) has criticized the Government's GM farm-scale trials as inadequate and unscientific. Three oilseed rape sites have been already been planted and the announcement of further maize sites is imminent.

FOE opposes the farm-scale trials because:

Baseline ecological data has not been collected at the participating farms for the first year.
A leaked Cabinet Office paper has confirmed that 15-25 paired comparisons are needed to gather sufficient data to be scientifically sound, yet the trials are starting with 3 paired comparisons per crop.
The trials do not compare GM crops with the full range of farming methods, from intensive chemical production to integrated crop management and organic.
There are no proper safeguards to prevent cross-pollination from the trial site to wild relatives and neighbouring crops.
The tax payer is paying the £3.3 million cost of assessing the trails. FOE believes that this bill should instead be paid by the seed companies who will make huge profits if commercialisation goes ahead.

In March the country's biggest farmer, the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS) dealt a blow to the Government's plans for farm scale trials by deciding not to take part in them.