Farmer Welfare and Agricultural Biotechnology

Abstract

I present three models that estimate the impact of genetically modified crops on farm labor, farm productivity and the environment. I find that genetically modified corn has no impact on farm labor usage, while genetically modified cotton and soybeans decrease farm labor usage. Corn that has been genetically modified to resist insects increases farm efficiency and puts downward pressure on farm size, while soybeans that have been genetically modified in order to tolerate herbicides puts upward pressure on farm size. My results also indicate that adopting herbicide tolerant genetically modified corn and cotton will lead to a decrease in the toxicity of herbicides applied to these crops.