Don Huber

Don Huber is a plant pathologist and a retired Purdue University professor. Huber led the USDA's National Plant Disease Recovery System (NPDRS) development of a recovery plan for late wilt of corn.

In January 2011, Huber wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack about troubling emerging research on genetically engineered crops and the herbicide glyphosate. In the letter, he warns that preliminary research has discovered an organism that is linked to miscarriages in livestock. Given the impending deregulation of GE alfalfa (which Vilsack deregulated shortly after Huber sent him the letter), Huber said:


 * "In summary, because of the high titer of this new animal pathogen in Roundup Ready crops, and its association with plant and animal diseases that are reaching epidemic proportions, we request USDA’s participation in a multi-agency investigation, and an immediate moratorium on the deregulation of RR crops until the causal/predisposing relationship with glyphosate and/or RR plants can be ruled out as a threat to crop and animal production and human health.


 * "It is urgent to examine whether the side-effects of glyphosate use may have facilitated the growth of this pathogen, or allowed it to cause greater harm to weakened plant and animal hosts. It is well-documented that glyphosate promotes soil pathogens and is already implicated with the increase of more than 40 plant diseases; it dismantles plant defenses by chelating vital nutrients; and it reduces the bioavailability of nutrients in feed, which in turn can cause animal disorders. To properly evaluate these factors, we request access to the relevant USDA data."

Huber followed this with a second letter, which he sent to governments outside the U.S., explaining why he wrote Vilsack and including more data.

Publications

 * Lawrence E. Datnoff, Wade H. Elmer, and Don M. Huber. 2007. Mineral Nutrition and Plant Disease. APS Press, St. Paul, Mn. 278. 278 pages.


 * Fernandez, M.R., Zentner, R.P., Basnyat, P., Gehl, D., Selles, F., and Huber, D.M. 2009. Glyphosate associations with cereal diseases caused by Fusarium spp. in the Canadian Prairies. European J. Agon. 31:133-143.


 * Johal, G.R. and Huber, D.M. 2009. Glyphosate effects on diseases of plants. European J. Agron. 31:144-152.


 * Zobiole, L.H.S., Oliveira, R.S.Jr., Huber, D.M., Constantin, J., Castro, C., Oliveira, F.A., Oliveira, A. Jr. 2010. Glyphosate reduces shoot concentrations of mineral nutrients in glyphosate-resistant soybeans. Plant Soil 328:57-69.

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Huber Letter
 * Genetically Modified Organisms
 * Glyphosate
 * Roundup Ready Crops