Wheat growers south of the border are getting a chance to express their opinion on genetically modified wheat.
The National Association of Wheat Growers is sending an information package to a sampling of U.S. producers, including a proposed statement of support for GM wheat and a card for producers to fill in and mail back with their comments.
Daren Coppock, chief executive officer of NAWG, said the survey is designed to document the “depth and breadth” of support for biotechnology among wheat producers.
“Anecdotally we’re convinced the support is there,” he said.
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“This petition will either confirm or confront that belief.”
If the response is positive, he said, it will send a signal to biotech companies that they should begin developing GM wheat.
Wheat acreage in the United States has been declining for 30 years.
Industry officials say that’s due partly to the fact that other crops that include biotech traits provide greater returns for producers than wheat.
Wheat growers have been reluctant to embrace the new technologies because of customer resistance.
Coppock said the initial focus of any biotech wheat would be on traits that make the crop more competitive in terms of net revenue per acre, including tolerance to drought, heat and cold, disease resistance and nitrogen-use efficiency.
He said biotech companies are reluctant to embark on the 10-year, multimillion dollar process required to commercialize GM wheat unless there is clear support from individual farmers as well as from farm organizations. The survey will be sent to commercial growers who have at least 500 acres of wheat and at least 1,000 total acres in production.
