Reuters | By Chris Stebbins | October 5, 2001
The U.S. grain industry is still on the lookout for gene-modified StarLink corn, one year after the unapproved variety entered the food chain and disrupted exports.
Even though StarLink was not planted in the United States this year, major grain processors are checking for it in corn coming in from this year's harvest.
U.S. government regulations allow its use as animal feed, but human use is banned because it may cause an allergic reaction in some people.
Industry sources are concerned that there might still be StarLink corn mixed in with approved varieties in some farm storage bins.
"We're looking forward to the new crop coming out of the field, but we're still going to have to deal with StarLink for the next couple years," one Iowa grain dealer said.
It is next to impossible to know exactly how much StarLink corn could be in the pipeline between cross pollination with the 2001 seed crop and what is stored in farmer bins, agronomists said. But the percentage testing positive will surely be lower than last year when the 9.24 billion U.S. corn harvest makes its way to market.
"About 25 percent of shipments inspected by GIPSA (Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration) in the '01 marketing year tested positive, indicating a sample carried 0.1 percent or more of StarLink," said Iowa State University crop specialist Charles Hurburgh, who runs ISU's grain quality program.
"Based on a carryout of about 2 billion bushels plus the new crop coming on, I'm guessing 5 to 8 percent of the aggregate crop will test positive," Hurburgh said.
Another gene-altered hybrid that grain dealers are watching for this fall is Roundup Ready corn. Even though the herbicide-resistant corn has been in the marketing chain for the past three years and approved for feed and food use in the United States, it is not approved in the European Union. U.S. corn millers are insistent that it not end up in the corn gluten market.
"Granted, we don't export corn to Europe, but it's the possible loss of the gluten market to wet corn millers that is an issue," Hurburgh said.
The European Union is one of the United States's biggest customers for corn gluten feed and meal, importing about 4.8 million tonnes annually. U.S. corn exports to Japan, the largest importer of grain, were hurt after StarLink corn was discovered in the food supply, dropping nearly 8 percent for the first seven months of this year compared to 2000.
"We don't want any StarLink or Roundup Ready corn. We're only accepting genetically modified crops that have the full food and feed approval in the U.S., Japan and Europe," said Larry Cunningham, spokesman for Archer Daniels Midland , one of the top U.S. corn millers.
The other major U.S. corn miller, Cargill Inc., also has a policy of not accepting unapproved corn varieties. "The wet corn mills cannot accept the handful of varieties that have not yet been approved in the EU, but will work with farmers to channel those crops to a proper destination," Cargill's company policy states.
"Based on USDA figures, 7 percent of this year's corn crop is herbicide-resistant and the bulk of that is Roundup Ready corn," said Bryan Hurley, spokesman for Monsanto, the developer of Roundup Ready corn.
"Farmers were required to sign channeling agreements when they purchased the seed to make sure corn was used on the farm or delivered to an elevator that agreed to handle Roundup Ready corn," Hurley said.
Dealers are relying on the integrity of farmers not to deliver unacceptable corn varieties at nondesignated locations. The likelihood of country elevators to test for Roundup Ready corn is next to nil due to its cost and time constraints, grain dealers said.
"There's no quick test for Roundup Ready corn right now. It costs about $400 to run and takes about four or five days for the final results," Iowa State's Hurburgh said.
