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Northern plains cooperative inks doughy deal with Monsanto to segregate GM wheat

(June 28, 2002 -- CropChoice news) -- Spring Wheat Bakers has signed a deal with Monsanto in which the cooperative and biotechnology company will develop a system to segregate genetically modified wheat, according to a story in the June 26 edition of the Grand Forks Herald (http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforksherald/3544735.htm).

Michael Warner, chairman of the board of the cooperative, told Herald reporter Mikkel Pates: "The wheat industry has a stake in biotechnology and everyone involved should be studying the advantages and disadvantages. The issue has been politically-charged because some major wheat customers say they won't buy genetically-modified wheat, and it hasn't been proven that a country that commercializes it can keep it separate from conventional wheat."

That's the problem, says North Dakota wheat grower Todd Leake. The infrastructure of the northern plains seed and grain processing, storage and transportation system all but eliminates any possibility of segregating transgenic wheat.

Source: Grand Forks Herald