Assume for a moment that the federal government or the global market suddenly insisted that all products not guaranteed to be free of genetically modified material must be labeled.
How would it affect farmers growing GM crops such as canola, corn, soybean or wheat?
It is a question tackled last year by researchers at KPMG consulting in a report on potential costs of mandatory labeling.
Their conclusion was that it would be a major change and an additional management challenge.
“Mandatory labeling would require the majority of farmers to make significant changes in the way they operate if they are to produce and supply products with specific and non-visible characteristics,” said the study.
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The researchers suggested corn producers trying to provide some GM-free product would face costs at least 12 percent higher than production of run-of-the-mill GM corn, which is the norm.
“This difference, estimated at (39 cents) per bushel … is the equivalent to approximately 14 percent of the 1999-2000 cumulative average price for Ontario corn,” said the study.
If it meant more on-farm storage, the cost would be higher.
The KPMG study identified a number of ways mandatory labeling of crops containing genetically modified organisms would affect farmers with affected crops or varieties.
They would have to:
- Maintain more precise records of what crops and varieties were grown in which fields and when.
- “Adopt more stringent production methods designed to reduce risks of cross-pollination.”
- Develop more diligent cleaning rules to minimize mingling of plants that might throw the guarantee of purity into question.
- Create more on-farm storage to make sure GM and non-GM varieties have no chance to get mixed.
- Consider liability insurance in case a crop sold contained trace elements of unacceptable matter.
