Would You Grow a GMO Crop if Given the Opportunity?

One of the more interesting questions we’ve asked since we launched the American Fruit Grower State of the Industry survey just over a decade ago is this: Would you produce a GMO crop if one were available to you?

Why? The answers through the years reflect the huge number of ways the question is interpreted. This year I couldn’t help but notice the passage of time. When we began asking this question, it was a hot-button issue so we didn’t think twice before abbreviating the then-commonly used the term, meaning “genetically modified organism.”

Back then, in 2015, the USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service deregulated two genetically modified apple varieties, ‘Arctic Granny’ and ‘Arctic Golden’, finding they were not likely to have a significant impact on the human environment.

Fast forward to today, and Okanagan Specialty Fruits, the developer of the ‘Arctic’ apples, hosted a full-day event earlier this spring, “Envisioning the Farm of the Future,” for growers, technologists, educators, and industry leaders to explore the future of food production. It’s obviously been accepted, right? After all, one answer we received summed up how little controversy the topic engenders today: “What is a GMO crop?”

What’s really odd, though, is that after all this time, when it would seem no longer controversial, we got the most resounding “NO” we’ve ever received. Every year before 2025, the answers were always in the 50-50 range, with the negatives barely winning. But this year 60% of the 240 people who answered the question said “NO.”

The reasons for how they answered run the gamut, from “certified organic operation,” to “we specialize in heirloom varieties,” to “not allowed by my overreaching global gap program.”

Here’s a sampling of how the rest of the growers answered.

• “If a seedless muscadine that tastes like a muscadine was produced, I might grow it.”
• “Only if the public would accept it.”
• “Then we can use less chemicals!”
• “Absolutely NOT. GMOs can cross pollinate where they are never wanted, which may result in a mono-cropping situation, which may result in loss of traditional varieties. Do some research.”
• “GMO’s are just human-accelerated adaptations of a plant. Instead of breeding a plant for a 100 years, we can do it in 5.”
• “Somebody please make me some scab- and fire
• blight-immune versions of what I already grow!”
• “Depends on the crop.”
• “Whatever makes money.”
• “If the trait is of great value to the grower.”
• “If there is market demand for product.”
• “I would like to use GMO crops, but the bad publicity has too much of an impact on our market.”
• “If higher-quality produce or disease/pest resistance can be introduced genetically rather than with chemical controls, I’m all for it. The challenge is that there needs to be evidence of market acceptance to go down that road.”
• “Pretty much all apple varieties are GMO, if you look at the big picture.”
• “I cannot risk that there would be consumer backlash at some point. I strongly dislike the term GMO. There is not any current ag crop grown that is not genetically modified to some extent. Let’s promote a larger discussion about the benefits of this.”
• “We used to develop new varieties through crossbreeding. That was the old way of genetically modifying things. Now we do it in a lab. GMO has been around for thousands of years. We just do it more efficiently now.”
• “Not sure — the public doesn’t have any understanding of this area and are scared of it.”
• “If I can sell it in this customer climate.”
• And finally, perhaps the best reason of all: “My mother is not interested, so we won’t.”

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Click here to check out more insights from the 2025 State of the Fruit and Nut Industry report.