CRYSTAL, N.D. – As a wheat seed grower, Brian O’Toole has a vested interested in the crop’s popularity with American farmers.
But even though wheat is still the number one crop in North Dakota, its popularity is slipping as traditional acres are eaten up by corn and soybeans.
It’s a trend that doesn’t appear likely to end soon, although some hope the recent support for genetically modified wheat development from farmers, millers and corporate interests could lead to the crop’s recovery.
For O’Toole, the answer is doing something to make wheat pay the bills.
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“It has to be economically effective, either by volume or price,” he said in an interview on his farm at the end of May when most Red River Valley farmers were still waiting to seed.
“It’s got to work on an acre to acre comparison to beans and corn.”
Wheat’s greatest weakness is its lagging yield gains compared to corn and soybeans. Genetic modification has allowed those crops to leap ahead in variety development and popularity.
Not only are herbicide-tolerant genes valuable for farmers, but the profits possible from developing these varieties have lured the world’s biggest chemical and seed development companies into spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new corn and soybean varieties.
Wheat, on the other hand, has found little corporate interest in developing new varieties, but North Dakota State University professor and wheat expert Bill Wilson said that may change if the U.S. agricultural industry embraces GM wheat the way it appears to be doing.
“One of the most important things about GM initiatives is that it encourages more private sector investment in the breeding programs,” Wilson said.
“Small grains have been suffering for the last decade compared to row crops, so over time this should improve yields and productivity.”
Wheat has a long way to catch up, however, even if companies like Bayer, BASF, Dow, Monsanto and Syngenta begin developing GM wheat technology.
“While there will be new initiatives in GM wheat, there will be initiatives in other crops with more momentum, like corn, beans and canola.”
GM wheat varieties are still considered to be many years away from commercialization. At the same time, second generation corn and soybean varieties with short maturities will keep coming on the market and threatening the already weak U.S. spring wheat acreage.
O’Toole, a commissioner with the North Dakota Wheat Commission, said something needs to be done to fix wheat’s sliding popularity with farmers. However, he’s uneasy about allowing GM wheat varieties when many overseas customers say they don’t want them.
He hopes reasonable tolerances for GM levels in non-GM wheat crops can be established before GM wheat varieties are registered in the U.S. so that farmers have a choice of which to grow.
“Give us a (contamination) number that we can work with. Zero is not a real number.”
Commission market analyst Erica Olson said North Dakota farmers seem split on whether to support GM wheat, but all worry about the crop’s declining popularity.
She works in Fargo, once part of the realm of King Wheat, but now it’s just another crop in the rotation.
“Especially in this part of the state, it used to be a major wheat producing area,” she said. “Now it’s mainly corn and (soy) beans. And that’s slowly moving west.”
Wilson said he hopes wheat can slow its decline and remain one of the United States’ big three crops.
The recent industry support for GM wheat development might allow that to happen.
“Over time, it will help,” Wilson said. “Whether it will restore the acreage remains to be seen.”
