Monsanto's new idea may make detasseling of corn obsolete - DesMoinesRegister.com

This is sickening science - how can we get Monsanto to quick applying sick science to our food system? It's nearly impossible when the nature of the ingredients are opaque to the end consumer. Normally, we (the consumer) have an incredible influence in the growth and direction of markets. In order for us to apply our influence, we need transparency. This is the case, for example, with organics. In the case of genetically modified food, we have no good way of knowing when it's in our foods. We need proper labeling, so that the people who don't, for example, want to eat dangerous food that has been genetically modified to resist poison, have a way of making that decision.

From the Demoines Register...

What is left of a longstanding Corn Belt rite - detasseling - may end for good when Monsanto brings to market what it calls its "Roundup Hybridization System" for corn.

Cornfields also will lose much of their masculinity, too.

Detasseling, for the city folks, is the removal of the golden sprigs at the top of the plant that secrete the pollen that reproduces corn. Seed producers want selective reproduction of corn rather than self-pollination, so they remove the tassels from some plants so they reproduce with pollen from other plants that have the requisite traits.

The Monsanto system, the company said, "utilizes a transgenic corn trait created by Monsanto that exhibits high tolerance to glyphosate (herbicide) in all tissues except male productive tissues."