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Premiums Taking Shape?

(29 March - Cropchoice News) -- Only time will tell what GMO-free harvests will fetch year; but reports are piling up that premiums will be available.

Interviewed in the mid-March edition of Prairie Farmer (Decatur, IL), Iowa State University professor Charles Harburgh says "already premiums are emerging of 50 cents per bushel on soybeans and 40 cents per bushel on corn for non-GMO grains. Much of that is making its way back to the producer." If the premiums hold, or even rise, the bottom line difference could be big for farmers ... even after elevators take their cut.

Some eyes are turned to Brazil. Pro Farmers reported last month that supermarket chain Carrefour - the largest retailer in Europe - had signed a contract to buy 180,000 metric tons of GMO-free soybeans from Brazil. According to Pro Farmers, Carrefour "is reportedly paying a premium on for the non-GMO beans."

Aurora Coop in Nebraska told Grainnet that it is paying farmers premiums of .08 - .10 per bushel on non-GMO corn and soybeans. Tom Gerdes told Grainnet that Aurora had sold a carload of non-GMO soya to the Persian Gulf and "several trainloads of non-GMO corn" to another processor.

SOURCE: Prairie Farmer, Grainnet, Pro Farmer Editors