U.S. wheat growers eye GMO challenges

 Reuters Story - February 16, 2000 19:03

 By Carey Gillam

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Feb 16 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat growers face an
expensive uphill journey as they follow in the controversial 
footsteps of soybean and corn farmers toward producing and 
marketing genetically enhanced crops, grain industry players 
said on Wednesday.

Wheat is a genetically complex plant and thus has lagged biotech
advancements seen in corn, soybeans, cotton and rice, according 
to wheat breeders. But within three to five years, biotech
wheat will be introduced to the market as agricultural companies 
race to bring an herbicide-tolerant offering to the market, wheat 
experts said at a forum on genetically modified organisms at the 
U.S. Wheat Quality Council annual meeting in Kansas City.

"RoundUp Ready wheat is probably going to be the first one to hit the
market," said Monsanto Co. agricultural consultant John Richardson, 
referring to wheat designed to withstand Monsanto's RoundUp herbicide. 
"In 2003 it will come out in Canada and in the U.S. spring wheat. 
Winter wheat will be further behind."

With research advancing in genetically modified wheat, the industry
must start to address issues of legal liability, identity preservation 
expenses, international approval and consumer acceptance at home and 
abroad, agricultural experts said.

"There are some exciting things coming in wheat, but we must understand
the impact this is going to have," Richardson said. "It is going to take 
a lot of work. It is important that we get started now."

Raging controversies in Europe and elsewhere over the safety and
environmental impact of biotech crops have hurt the U.S. soybean industry, 
and to a lesser extent the corn industry, the experts said.

On Wednesday, the German government suspended approval of sales of
genetically modified corn, citing possible health risks, until a federal 
agency decides the matter on Friday.

"We have lost markets," said Christopher Novak, an American Soybean
Association spokesman.

Novak said that because the wheat industry depends on exports, it
should consider itself an ally of soybean growers on this issue. He 
blamed a "politicized process," particularly in Europe, for hampering 
exports of genetically enhanced crops.

John Bloomer, wheat biotech manager for Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca, 
acknowledged that progress was slow in gaining European acceptance of 
GMO products, but said he was optimistic that was changing.

AstraZeneca recently had success introducing a biotech tomato puree in
Europe and is currently focusing on development of fungal control wheat 
varieties for European farmers, he said. Last May, AstraZeneca struck an 
alliance with seed company AgriPro to develop genetically enhanced wheat in
North America, he said.

Bloomer said numerous recent food scares, a distrust of the government
regulatory system and a general unease with large corporations were 
factors in the European Union's reluctance to embrace GMO crops. He said 
the U.S. wheat industry could overcome many of these hurdles by starting 
early to educate consumers about the benefits of biotech wheat.

"Gaining trust takes time, so you've got to start early and prepare the
way," Bloomer said. "We have the opportunity and the time to do it right 
in wheat, but it will need cooperation in the whole wheat food chain."

But overcoming the multiple issues associated with biotech crops will
require a lot of collaboration and consultation among all players in the 
wheat industry, said Kansas State University Dean of Agriculture Marc Johnson.

"These aren't things that we need to fear, they're issues that we need
to address," Johnson said.