I recently saw a lecture on the ecological impacts of GE crops in the USA at Oregon State University, entitled, Looking Back: Environmental Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops. The lecture video is at http://oregonstate.edu/orb/fft/2012/looking-back

Hi there, Folks! --You might feel greatly heartened to know that:- Down here, in New Zealand, most of us really look after all our Monarch Butterflys & we make a real effort to provide as many of the very special, milky-sap plant= Swan-plant =in all our Gardens here! :) The plants do extremely well in this Temperate-to-SubTropical Climate. And most of us make a special effort to "pass-around" lots of these SwanPlants -to everyone in our Communities who need them refreshed, or restored to their Gardens!--Thanks for reminding me!--I'll take a bunch of mine down to our little Sea-side Village, & leave them just outside the BookShop/PostOffice! -They know what to do with them! And if the weather is very rainy, or a storm, some of us bring inside our homes, any Monarch caterpillars which may have reached the critical stage of hanging&cocooning!...or a crysalis that looks quite near to hatching-time! - In case the prolonged heavy rain destroys them. -- We love these critters! --Cheers! - Jen.-from New Zealand.

Monarchs and milkweed are still abundant along the roadsides and ditches bordering the GMO crops in Minnesota: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7owV6o6xNWM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKmDId55pfc

I raise milkweeds in my garden for the monarchs, but the last two years, I've had Asian paper wasps that have attacked the monarchs. This year, I can't raise any milkweeds until I can get the paper wasps under control. I hope an article will be done on these wasps and their impact on monarchs.

I have no problem with farmers, but the process that is used today is to overproduce and use whatever insecticide that will work, until the weeds become immune to the insecticide. We see time and again that nature will try and balance out our trying to tame it. Overuse of antibiotics in the cattle and poultry industry is producing more drug resistant bacteria and such that we have no remedy for. The same with the loss of collateral species resulting from GMO usage. Yes, milkweed is not something that farmers want in their fields, but the totality of the new genetics in the GMO, along with the overuse of pesticides of all sorts, is killing those species we need for our long term health on this planet.

Of course, let's not take into consideration that monarchs typically start to migrate in October, and farmers start to harvest crops anywhere between September and November depending on the year...Oh! Wait! I know, we need to ban any type of harvesting before November to protect the butterflies.

i farm.for all you people who are gonna just sit and bash how things are in ag once you hear of things like this that arent even entirely true and are in no way involved with ag. your welcome for those corn flakes you had the other day. gonnna stop eating corn flakes now that you heard this or drinking soy milk?

Genetic engineering has resulted in increased food production, a good thing. It also produces unforeseen consequences, a bad thing. One of these days the bad thing may result in a population disaster to the mammal that invented it.

I think we should ban automobiles because they are killing people and butterflies at an alarming rate!!!!!

I do agree with much of facts4you's comments. There needs to be room for both weeds and wild and clean, productive soybean fields. But without herbicides like Roundup, it is impossible to produce the soybeans we need using the minimum tillage practices that can protect our soils and water. I just don't see how we will be able to get our cropping systems to do all the things we are going to be asking them do without taking advantage of our plant breeders' best efforts, and that includes GMOs, which are a blessing, not a curse.