Date:   01-02-18 21:05:53 EST
From:   [log in to unmask] (Jim Diamond)
Sender: [log in to unmask] (Biotech Forum)
Reply-to:   [log in to unmask] (Biotech Forum)
To: [log in to unmask]

       This is from Mark Murray's The DAILY BRIEF for Sunday, 18 February
2001:
Nervous Farmers want Restrictions on Monsanto's biotech Wheat
AP Farm Writer, 18 February
http://www.postnet.com/postnet/stories.nsf/ByDocID/ADFD22A3774B2D7F862569F70
02BB58F
WASHINGTON - Farmers who were eager to grow genetically engineered crops
like soybeans and corn are having second thoughts about the idea of biotech
wheat.  Gene-altered wheat is still at least two years away from reaching
the market. But the public relations disaster last fall involving StarLink
biotech corn has heightened fears among farmers about genetically engineered
wheat.  Major European and Japanese buyers are signaling they will not
accept the wheat. A U.S. growers group has asked the crop's developer,
Monsanto Co., to consult with farmers in developing a special distribution
system for biotech wheat to keep it separate from conventional varieties.
And legislatures in two wheat-producing states, North Dakota and Montana,
are considering restrictions on the crop.  "It's one of the most
controversial issues we're facing right now," said Randy Johnson, executive
vice president of the Montana Grain Growers Association.  Farmers "don't
want to get caught in the middle," said Alan Lee, a North Dakota grower who
is chairman of his state's wheat commission. "It's just common sense to take
a go-slow approach."   Wheat farmers are more dependent on foreign markets
than almost any other producers: Half of all U.S. wheat is sold for export.
       COMMENT: We reported on the state legislative action previously.  This
story is about international trade and farm economics; in general, I try to
report more fully on the real world and nature rather than the economic world
and the bottom line.  One reason to pay special attention to genetically
engineered wheat is that, unlike corn, it has close weedy relatives living
nearby.  These can accumulate and further broadcast the newly hacked genetic
code of the wheat varieties.  When wheat is combined, either on purpose or
inadvertently, with a trait which can increase the genetic fitness of wild
species, then a major ecological shift might occur.
       But when talking about the bottom line, we clearly would prefer that
the bottom line of farmers not be harmed, especially not just so that
Monsanto's can improve.  I hope that the economic conditions mentioned in
this article will add impetus to demands for a separate channel of
distribution for, and a premium payment for, non-transgenic crops.
       If there were mandatory labeling of GE'd food in the U.S., as is
coming about in much of the rest of the developed world, then this premium in
price to the farmer would come into existence immediately.  I hope some
farmers will be supporting mandatory labeling as a strategy to realize
premium prices for GE-free instead of transfering some income to Monsanto.
             Jim Diamond

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT
to [log in to unmask]