How long until bt doesn't work any more?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/business/06corn.html?_r=1&ref=science

The article linked above discusses another looming biological disaster. Rules and procedures that farmers who have planted bt corn designed by Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta, et. al are supposed to follow are being disregarded. If the guidelines are not followed, insect resistance to bt will develop.

The bt defense is one long used by organic growers and they loudly protested the injection of bt right into the corn by these companies years ago. The reason is because of this very issue. Any type of insect or fungus or other disease control is much more effective if done judiciously and applied appropriately at the right time and for the right reason, not just broadly spewed over half a continent.

What is infuriating is that our federal government looks the other way as long as the food and environment offender is a gigantic corporation. But when it comes to small, locally producing family farmers or even people just trying to feed themselves out of their own backyard, they are tightening restrictions, monitoring every move, and taxing and burying and choking these little guys with paperwork, permits, records and identification numbers and tags. While Cargill refuses to test it's ground meat for e.coli and gets away with it resulting in the deaths of many Americans every year and the sickening of untold numbers more, the government is hellbent on making sure every chicken in a backyard chicken pen has an id chip in it. For what? For traceability!

When I first started farming over 10 years ago, things were bad, but not this bad. Our government is getting worse and worse and even worser in terms of the ways it treats independant family farmers and consumers who simply want to buy healthy, wholesome food that was raised simply by folks they know. This is not just an issue for farmers, it is a major problem for anyone who eats.