The possibility that genetically modified wheat seed escaped from Agriculture Canada fields in Ottawa via the digestive tracts of Canadian geese is proof that GMOs cannot be contained, says an anti-GM campaigner.
According to a July 26 statement from Agriculture Canada, researchers at the Central Experimental Farm had a plot of experimental wheat last year that included a gene that could make the plant resistant to fusarium head blight.
“CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) approved the trial, satisfied that the risks could be managed and all risk mitigation measures were followed by Agriculture Canada,” it said.
Read Also
Manitoba beekeepers battle for survival
Honeybee colony losses have hit 43 per cent, making 2025 the latest in a string of poor bee survival years for Manitoba’s honey producers
“As just one element in a broader research approach, the purpose of the trial was not to produce any varieties for commercial use but to test for a specific gene that may confer resistance to fusarium.”
However, the research farm had a Canada goose problem that it had known about for years. The migrating birds would touch down in the research plots, chow down and move on.
Significant damage was done to experimental plots one weekend last year, which prompted the department to hire a company this year that uses border collies to chase away geese before they can do damage.
However, according to Agriculture Canada internal emails published last week by The Ottawa Citizen, the experimental wheat plot was one of those eaten by the birds and there were panicked exchanges about whether the seeds could have survived and been excreted into nearby wheat fields.
GM wheat has not been approved and even a minimal presence in shipments could close international markets.
The emails did not indicate if any evidence was found of live seeds being spread.
The department went into defensive mode, downplaying any chance of inadvertent contamination of other fields and stressing the importance of anti-fusarium research for farmers.
However, anti-GM campaigner Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network said the incident illustrates the impossibility of containing GM crops once they are introduced into the environment.
CBAN has been waging a battle against the introduction of GM alfalfa and the industry argument that coexistence between GM and non-GM is possible.
“It is what we have been arguing,” she said.
“The inadvertent distribution of seed is a known risk. Birds eat seed. Shit happens.”
Sharratt noted that while internal emails worried about inadvertent spread of the seeds, the department made no announcement.
