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Monsanto uses secret Montana location to demonstrate its genetically modified wheat
(Monday, July 21, 2003 -- CropChoice news) -- Jim Gransberry, Billings Gazette, 07/20/03: BOZEMAN - Monsanto Co., the creator of genetically modified (GM) food plants
resistant to its own widely used herbicide, understands that its
biotechnology efforts are not without controversy.
But the company has pegged its future on a move away from chemicals and
toward the use of biotechnology in a number of areas. They include
applications in agriculture, food nutrition, pharmaceuticals, industrial
processes, bio-remediation and bio-fuels.
The move comes with the acknowledgment that it must do a better job in
explaining to a skeptical public, and outright opponents, that its efforts
are safe and will result in positive benefits for farmers and consumers as
well as the company.
Roundup Ready spring wheat
This effort at transparency, stewardship and providing data to regulatory
agencies was offered up Thursday for a few journalists who accepted an
invitation to a seminar and field trip focused on Roundup Ready spring
wheat.
There was one caveat.
"We are taking some risk at revealing the test-plot location," said Michael
Doane, director of industry affairs for the St. Louis-based corporation, who
asked that the exact location not be revealed.
"It is for the cooperative researcher's safety, the facilities and the
crop," he said.
The test plot is in Gallatin County.
That is the extent of the information available to the general public
through the Freedom of Information Act, said Danny Gigax, Monsanto's
representative for wheat research partner relationships.
"I deal with Roundup Ready wheat only," he said.
Monsanto, through genetic engineering, has developed Roundup Ready soybeans,
corn and canola. It is now testing Roundup Ready spring wheat. Roundup is
Monsanto's broadleaf herbicide. Roundup Ready plants are resistant to
Roundup which allows farmers to spray it on those crops without killing the
grain plants at the same time.
Foreign importers, however, have indicated they will not buy GM wheat. In
Europe and Japan, consumers have rejected GM foods because of the perception
that they are not as safe as conventionally produced hybrid varieties.
Because Montana sells most of its wheat to the Asian Pacific Rim, some
farmers are opposed to any introduction of Roundup Ready wheat lest it
"contaminate" the state's commercial varieties and kill the state's valuable
export market. In any given year, Montana's wheat crop is valued at $400
million to $900 million, with 60-70 percent of the crop going to the Pacific
Rim.
Legislative attempts
In the past two legislative sessions, bills were introduced to restrict or
prevent the introduction of GM wheat in Montana. Similar legislation has
been introduced in North Dakota. All those attempts were rejected by
legislators.
The Canadian Wheat Board, which controls all exports of Canadian grain, also
opposes the introduction. A recently released study commissioned by the CWB
concluded that "under current conditions the release of Roundup Ready wheat
in Western Canada would be environmentally unsafe."
Monsanto Canada rejected the conclusion as "It does not seem to accurately
reflect international mainstream, scientific opinion and peer-reviewed data
on the benefits of biotech crops," Canadian Press reported.
This year, the Montana Legislature accepted a joint resolution affirming
opposition to the introduction of GM wheat until Monsanto has fulfilled its
own six-point pledge, which it has made to all its potential users.
Along with the pledge, Doane said the company is committed to dialogue,
transparency, respect, sharing of some discoveries and benefits from its
research.
"We issue an annual report on the pledge," he said. "The second is due in a
few months."
Doane said U.S. grower satisfaction with Roundup Ready soybeans, corn and
canola is high, but on a global scale acceptance is lagging.
Use of the seed reduces crop input costs, he said, and increases a return to
the farmer. Use of the seed has also reduced the application of 46 million
pounds of pesticide a year. Yields have increased by 4 billion units
(measured in either bushels or pounds, depending on the seed).
Doane said the company recognizes and accepts the regulatory process
worldwide, which can differ in each country.
Monsanto has pledged that Roundup Ready wheat will not be introduced
commercially until its food, feed, and environmental safety is demonstrated,
resulting in regulatory approvals in the United States, Canada and Japan.
"Japan has indicated its desire to impose science-based regulation," he
said.
Our goal is to have a Roundup Ready variety that is adaptable to each region
of Montana where spring wheat is grown either on dryland or irrigated
cropland.
In all cases, the introduction will be based on "grower, manufacturer and
consumer benefit," Doane said.
"We have to prove the safety of the gene, the food, the animal feed and the
environment. That it is as safe as unmodified varieties and (nutritionally)
is substantially equivalent to commercial varieties.
"When to commercially grow Roundup Ready wheat is not the issue, but how it
is done." He said.
Doane said Monsanto has become a convenient proxy for issues in a larger
context such globalization and corporate control as an ideological concern
Another big concern is "contamination" or co-mingling with commercial wheat
varieties.
Preventing that is Gigax's full time job.
The protocols for planting test plots of Roundup Ready wheat are specific,
he said. Applications to plant must be made to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture 180-days in advance.
"There are less than 50 acres of Roundup Ready wheat plots in the United
States and between 30 and 40 acres in Canada," he said.
No volunteer wheat is allowed to survive as the plots are surveyed for two
years after harvest. One hundred-foot borders are maintained between the
plots and from any wheat that goes into commerce.
"Outcropping or pollen drift is less than .01 percent because the pollen is
relatively heavy," Gigax said.
All the grain is destroyed after harvest and the yield is determined, he
said. All the seed comes double bagged before planting and the bags are
burned. In addition, there is third-party auditing of the fields.
"None of the grain is allowed to go into commerce," Gigax said.
Doug Ryerson, Monsanto's field man out of Great Falls who conducted a tour
of the Gallatin County plot, said there are about dozen test plots in the
spring wheat growing areas of Montana. The cooperating growers are
anonymous, he said.
"We are trying to be responsible and not mess up the market," Ryerson said.
Ed Davis, the cropland weed researcher at Montana State University, said his
plot allowance is 2.5 acres, but only 1.2 are planted this year. This is his
third year of testing.
Most of the Roundup Ready wheat grows to flowering stage and is then plowed
under, he said.
"I am the accountable person for the integrity of the plot, so I do not tour
or publicize the site," he said.
His studies focus on the noxious weeds kochia and wild oats, two of the most
serious weeds in Montana wheat.
His test plots demonstrate the effectiveness of Roundup Ready plants
compared to conventional wheat.
The varieties being used by Davis come from Western Plant Breeders, a
private Bozeman company that specializes in breeding wheat and barley
varieties.
Dale Clark and his partner Dan Biggerstaff have been introducing the Roundup
Ready gene into present conventional varieties.
"Our goal is to have a Roundup Ready variety that is adaptable to each
region of Montana where spring wheat is grown either on dryland or irrigated
cropland," Clark said. | |
