(NAFB.com) – The National Corn Growers Association responded to the Making America Healthy Again Committee report which raised unfounded questions about the safety of pesticides. The NCGA released a report speaking to the economic impact of widely-used technologies like atrazine and glyphosate. “U.S. farmers consistently raise abundant crops that provide consumers with reliable, low-cost access to food,” said NCGA Chief Economist and Illinois farmer Krista Swanson, who authored the report. “One of the central tenets to producing crops is controlling pests that when left unchecked can reduce corn yields by up to 70 percent.” She also says the safety and efficacy of pesticides have been repeatedly tested and documented for decades. The report says farmers would face at least a 60 percent cost increase if they were to switch from glyphosate and atrazine to alternative herbicides. Glyphosate and atrazine have been registered as U.S. pesticides since 1974 and 1958, respectively.
