Yield and Profit Impacts of Planting Non-Bt Corn Refuge in North Carolina

In this edition of the NC State Economist, Greg Ferraro, Alexis Alsdorf, Dominic Reisig and Roderick M. Rejesus examine the potential yield and profit impacts of planting non-Bt corn refuge to slow pest resistance to Bt crops. Using two years of North Carolina on-farm data, they assess yield differences between Bt and non-Bt corn hybrids. Corn and input price data allow for an investigation into the potential profit impacts of planting a 20% non-Bt refuge in a representative North Carolina corn farm operation. In general, overall farm profitability is not negatively impacted when planting a 20% non-Bt refuge compared to planting 100% Bt corn, as long as high-quality non-Bt hybrids are selected and the refuge is managed with the same inputs as the Bt crops in the remaining 80% of the field (i.e., planting non-Bt crops in comparable soils and applying similar inputs).