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Edition for Saturday, November 27, 2004 Twin Falls, Idaho

Genetically modified wheat still faces challenges

By Cindy Snyder

Ag Weekly correspondent

TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- A half year after the release of the first genetically modified wheat was indefinitely postponed in the United States, the grain industry remains divided over the issue of biotech wheat.

Mark Gage, president of the National Wheat Growers Association, said building market acceptance for biotech wheat is a high priority for the organization. He told producers at the Idaho Grain Producers Association's annual meeting in Boise Nov. 15-17 that biotechnology holds great promise for wheat growers, but that building markets is the first step. Gage is a grain producer from eastern North Dakota.

That echoes the stand IGPA has taken on genetically modified wheat. When Monsanto indefinitely postponed the release of a GM hard red spring wheat the company developed to resist the commonly used Round-Up herbicide in May, the Idaho association was both happy and disappointed.

"We developed a policy of supporting release of Round-Up Ready wheat or genetically modified wheat once we had regulatory approval and once we had a delivery system in place so we can deliver GM-free wheat; and those things aren't in place yet," Steve Johnson, executive director of the Idaho Grain Producers Association said last May.

The association is a strong advocate for continued research in developing genetically modified wheat varieties. One example, that holds great promise for Midwest growers is a scab-resistant variety being developed by another agri-chemical company.

While the technology holds promise for growers, making sure customers will accept the end result is paramount. In 2004, Idaho growers produced more than 100 million bushels of wheat of which 56 million bushels -- or 55 percent -- was exported, primarily to Egypt, the Philippines, Japan and Korea. Those countries are not eager to buy GM wheat.

"Before we could market it (GM wheat), we'd have to have in place a dual delivery system," Johnson said. "The big issue for us is having the delivery system in place."

A grain market economist says no new policies or trends have emerged since May to make the commercial introduction of GM wheat feasible. Robert Wisner, an economist at Iowa State University, said releasing a GM wheat risks the loss of up to half of U.S. wheat export markets and up to a one-third drop in price.

Wisner's conclusions are in a recent update released of his October 2003 report, "Market Risks of Genetically Modified Wheat," prepared for Western Organization of Resource Councils, a regional network representing farmers and ranchers in Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Idaho, and Oregon.

Wisner reported these new findings:

* The European Union has lifted its blanket moratorium on approval of GM crops. It has also adopted a more restrictive GM food labeling program and traceability requirements for GM food and crops, to allow identification of the source of biotech ingredients.

* A survey of European supermarkets found very few foods with GM ingredients for sale, implying that marketing products made from GM wheat would present a major challenge to the European food industry at this time.

* With new GM food labeling in place, US soybean product exports to the EU declined much more than exports to other countries in 2003-04. Drought cut US supplies and worldwide exports.

* Ten central and eastern European nations joined the EU, increasing the number of countries with food labeling programs.

* There is no evidence of change in the overwhelming preference of Asian consumers for non-GM wheat.