> You said:
> BTW the article mentions that the problem is most extreme when soil temps
> reach 40 and 50 C... It is hard for me to imagine that soil temps could
> get anywhere close to this hot under a transpiring soybean canopy...
> or that any plant (GM or non GM) could function at such temperatures.
In the article, it notes that these temperatures were reached in the spring,
presumably well before a full canopy, when solar irradiance could well be
reaching predominantly into the soil. Such temperatures are not unreasonable
in the uppermost layers of the soil, particularly at the lower latitudes.
It is noteworthy that the article references research conducted *in response
to* farmer observations, suggesting that the phenomenon was sufficiently
widespread in the real world as to occasion critical comment from a large
number of producers. Also noteworthy that the initial explanation - fungal
infection - would have diverted attention from the GMO aspect. The article
says that fungal invasion may well have been secondary, following the stem
splitting which was apparently associated with the RR gene. Note further that
the article references the fact that this is occurring only with the RR
transgene, not transgenes for other herbicide tolerances. Important point.
Ann
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