The Farm Journal | October 1999 | Greg D. Horstmeier, Patricia Peak Klintberg
Last spring's worries over which genetically modified (GM) seed is "approved" in what country have, according to this story, become a moot issue. Approved or not, consumers are running this show - at least for the short term - and the acid return is causing heartburn for U.S. farmers and their seed suppliers, who already are planting winter seed production fields.
As backwash over GM crops spreads through Europe and Asia, farmers preparing to buy seed for next year's crops need, the story states, answers to key questions, such as how much food made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) the world's consumers will accept.
Unfortunately, the answers may not be ready any time soon.
International food processing companies want non-GM grain. European supermarkets demand non-GM products - never mind that Roundup Ready soybeans and certain varieties of corn containing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are approved for use there.
Japan, New Zealand and Australia are mulling how to label food that may contain GM ingredients. And U.S. consumers were inoculated on the GMO issue when reports came out of their effects on monarch butterflies.
27-year-old farmer Dan Devlin, who is reading the writing on the wall and trying to figure out what it all means, was quoted as saying, "I like the flexibility crops such as Roundup Ready soybeans and Bt corn give. But I am becoming concerned about where I'll be able to sell those crops and how much I'll earn from them. I don't think farmers can be wed to any technology. I'll grow what the market wants."
John B. Fagan, a molecular biologist at the Maharishi University School of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, and a vocal opponent of foods containing GMOs, was quoted as saying, "Once genetically modified organisms are released into the environment, they can never be recalled."
Fagan's company, Genetic ID Inc., contracts with European processors and grocery stores to test grain and foodstuffs for the presence of GM ingredients.
Wayne Beck, Pioneer Hi-Bred International vice president for supply management, was quoted as saying, "Everyone needs to realize that no one can guarantee 100% GM-free grain."
The story says that Fagan is pushing for a tolerance level of 0.1% in foods labeled "GM-free," a level he says his tests can detect.
Translated, that's the equivalent of about one Roundup Ready soybean in a sample of 10,000 seeds.
Strategic Diagnostics Inc., based in Delaware, offers a rapid test called Trait-Check for Roundup Ready soybeans. "It will give a yes or no answer on a ground grain sample," says Don Durandetta, SDI's business manager.
The test can detect 1% or 2% GM content, depending on the sample's size.
SDI plans to release a similar test for Yieldgard Bt proteins.
The story says that most seed companies require a 350' buffer around seed corn production fields to protect against foreign pollen. Those distances will produce a hybrid seed with 1% to 2% off-types or kernels pollinated by windblown pollen from another field. Seed insiders say off-types can reach 5% or higher when processing and bagging facilities get lax on cleanliness.
That's a lesson for farmers hoping to sell non-GMO corn. It's also a lesson to seed companies hoping to supply farmers with non-GMO seed.
Gene Kassmeyer, corn product manager at Garst Seeds, was quoted as saying, "To get seed below 1% off-type is possible, but it would take much more expensive isolation and testing."
Kassmeyer and Beck were cited as agreeing it's doubtful seed companies will make sweeping changes in production until legal tolerances are set.
Pioneer ran into the contamination issue with a corn hybrid introduced into Switzerland this year. It yielded well in European trials and had high grower interest, yet after seed was delivered, and some planted, the Swiss environmental ministry found trace amounts of Bt in select seed lots.
Swiss regulations say non-GM foodstuffs can have up to 1% GM content, but no GM seeds are approved for planting in that country. Unplanted seed was returned, planted fields destroyed and farmers compensated.
