Biotech crops are good for the environment, claimed representatives from U.S. farmers’ groups as they presented a report in September on biotechnology to their peers in the United Kingdom. Let the Facts Speak for Themselves claims that U.S. farmers using genetically modified (GM) crops have increased yields and cut insecticide use; for example, insecticide use on cotton genetically engineered to contain the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene fell by 50%, while yields rose by 7% between 1996 and 1999. It also maintains that herbicide-tolerant crops require less ploughing, which minimizes soil erosion and improves soil quality and water retention. Growing commercial GM crops is banned in Europe, but the United Kingdom’s Commercial Farmers Group (CFG), which organized the meeting, is nonetheless concerned that the troubled U.K. farming industry is missing out on technology advances which could boost competitiveness. The report can be found at www.asa-europe.org/pdf/let_the_facts.pdf.