Debate over genetically modified wheat, like its development, soldiers
on.
Farmers attending the Saskatchewan Seed Growers Association annual
meeting, held Jan. 8 during Crop Production Week in Saskatoon, found
lots of reasons to oppose growing GM wheat in Canada.
- Two thirds of Canada’s grain customers don’t want it.
- Producers question its potential economic benefits.
- It could have an irreversible effect on the Canadian grain industry.
- It could drive up handling, storage and shipping costs for all
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producers.
- It could ruin the organic cereal industry.
- It could create liability issues for seed growers.
The experts who participated in a panel discussion on the issue were
less critical, but still frank about their concerns with GM wheat.
“Until consumers in our markets accept GM wheat, we as Canadians must
ensure there is no GM wheat in our grain system,” said Tom Cowell, a
senior grain marketer with NM Paterson and Sons of Winnipeg.
He referred to his experience handling GM free soybeans for European
markets.
“Their non-GMO standards were 99 percent,” he said.
“But for our purposes, we accepted no soybeans that had any amount of
GM in the sample. It is too expensive to test for anything other than
positive or negative for GMs at the elevator.”
He said it’s impossible to avoid mixing grain receipts in an elevator.
“You need separate elevators. It could take up to a week to clean out
an elevator, and a lot of labour cost, and you still wouldn’t have it
all (GM seed) …. Imagine what it would take at a port terminal.”
Europe is the largest single market for Canadian wheat exports and the
European Union now has no tolerance for GM cereals. There is a set of
draft standards that include 0.5 percent tolerance for GM contamination
in cereal grain. The level is zero for organic production.
Bert Innes of Agriculture Canada said the EU will play a major role in
any decision about growing GM cereals in Canada.
“The EU is the noisiest bunch on this issue. They are driving it. They
will likely decide for most of our customers.”
Bill Robertson, the retired head of the Canadian Seed Growers
Association, also felt it is impossible to ensure that “at the very
least mechanical contamination would not occur.
“We have never had 100 percent of anything in the past and we shouldn’t
expect it with GM products, either. What we must do is negotiate some
reasonable standards with the customers prior to introduction.”
He said organic standards would also have to be “reasonable. And 100
percent free of GM product is not reasonable.”
Innes said testing for GM proteins isn’t difficult or expensive – 90
cents a tonne, according to NM Patterson and Sons – but only if the
answer is yes or no.
“We can make quantitative tests for DNA down to the 0.01 percent level,
but the people who own the (DNA gene) sequences aren’t anxious to
provide them to testing agencies,” Innes said.
“So that won’t work, and it is expensive. Who would pay for it?”
Arnold Taylor, who farms at Kenaston, Sask., worried about markets.
“In wheat, our major customers have said no to GM content in our wheat
now. Why produce something we don’t want? I don’t think I should be
forced to have it if my customers won’t buy it. Once it is here, it is
here for all time.”
Canadian Wheat Board chair Ken Ritter agreed.
“Two thirds of our customers at the board have told us they do not want
GM wheat,” he said.
“We’ve been advised that one third of the customers of the first
exporting country to release it will be lost. We think that is reason
enough not to release it.”
Lyle Wright, a certified seed grower at Kerrobert, Sask., was worried
about liability if he was to grow a GM wheat and a neighbor proved he
contaminated his farm or grain.
“I border two organic growers. I need to know who is liable. Nobody
seems to be interested in telling me who is liable for contamination.”
Brian Rossnagel, a cereal breeder from the University of Saskatchewan’s
Crop Development Centre who moderated the panel discussion, said
liability is a grey area.
“Liability is between you and your lawyer right now. We don’t know and
unfortunately until somebody gets sued we might not ever know.”
