The influence of European anti-genetically modified crop activists appears to be waning.

When Greenpeace U.K. recently tried to persuade British farmers to give up on hosting environmental trials of GM crops, only two out of 30 farmers elected to opt out.

For a multinational organization such as Greenpeace, with annual revenue in excess of $100 million (US), such limited influence on a small group of farmers who had been publicly identified must have been a disappointment.

In February, Friends of the Earth tried to whip up fears that farmers could be sued by their neighbours over potential genetic contamination of conventional crops from wind-borne pollen. This assault failed, too – perhaps because the activists did not appreciate the level of trust and goodwill that has been built up over the years between farmers and the chemical and seed companies who deliver new technology.

Equally unproductive for Greenpeace was its boarding of a ship carrying GM soybeans off the Welsh coast. The vessel, indeed, headed back out to sea, only to return a few days later to dock at Liverpool, its original destination, where Greenpeace was unable to prevent the discharge of the cargo.

In short, while activists have managed to keep the GM crop issue alive, they've failed to create anything more than fleeting publicity.

GM crop trial sites will almost certainly be popular venues for activists this summer, but the encampments are unlikely to be headline news.

There are consolations. The residents will have the opportunity to learn something about the English countryside. Hopefully, they will do this before they themselves cause too much environmental damage!

For CBC commentary, I'm David Walker, an agricultural economist, at Lodge Farm Postwick in Broadland Norfolk, England.

David Walker was senior economist for Home-Grown Cereals Authority in London and previously was executive director of the Alberta Grain Commission. His opinions on British and European agricultural issues can be found at www.openi.co.uk/