Tyre makers turn to Kevlar in ‘fight’ against GMO crops
Mark Newhall from US publication Farm Show Magazine refers to them as being like a “field of little spears…little spears that are stabbing, and bumping and chewing up tractor tyres.” The spear-like protrusions described by Newhall are genetically modified crops, and in an interview with public radio producer American Public Media the magazine editor and others discussed the tyre issues that genetically modified crops are creating.
Genetically modified crops have been ‘strengthened’ to help them resist pests and withstand unfavourable climatic conditions. Newhall says the stalks of these crops are stiffer and tougher, and this is taking its toll on tractor tyres. Fellow interviewee Robert Parks, owner of Custom Tire Cutting, a company that customises tractor tyres, says genetically modified crop stubble wears tyres out much earlier than conventional crops, and farmers get much less use from their tyres: “In some instances (they receive) just a year or two, where normally they would get five or six years out of the tyres.”
So what is the solution? While Parks’ company hardens tyres for customers through a baking process, tyre makers themselves are also responding to the challenges posed by genetically modified crops. Jim Patrico, an editor at Progressive Farmer magazine, told the radio network that some agricultural product are now been shipped with Kevlar linings that corn stalks can’t penetrate. “They’re doing things like a kevlar lining,” he commented. “Yup, that kevlar, the kind soldiers have in their helmets and vests….it’s a fight out there in the fields, tyres versus thousands of corn stalk spears. Why not turn to the military for a little help?”
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