Argentine farmers, such as this one west of Buenos Aires, won’t be allowed to grow the new variety until it is approved by Brazil, which is the country’s main wheat customer.  |  Reuters/Enrique Marcarian photo

Argentina OKs genetically modified wheat

Researchers say the variety, in which a sunflower gene was inserted, is 20 percent more productive during drought years

Argentina has become the first country in the world to approve transgenic wheat for cultivation and consumption with varieties designed to yield well under drought conditions. Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp., based in the central Argentine city of Rosario, announced the approval of its HB4 drought-tolerant wheat on Oct. 8. The company reports that its HB4 […] Read more

GM corn, soybeans and canola are widely grown and consumed, but GM wheat has always been seen in a different light. | File photo

An environmental story can be spun for GM wheat

The question of whether the world wants genetically modified wheat has arisen again following Argentina’s conditional approval of a new altered variety designed to be drought tolerant and herbicide resistant. The approval is contingent on getting an OK from Brazil, its biggest market, and that country’s wheat association Abitrigo says a survey of wheat millers […] Read more

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed that Monsanto's Roundup Ready trait has been discovered in wheat growing along an access road leading to an oil rig in a field in southern Alberta. | Screencap via www.inspection.gc.ca

GM wheat appearance in Alberta remains a mystery

GM wheat has arrived in Canada, but unfortunately it was in the form of an unapproved trait found in an unknown variety of the crop. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed that Monsanto’s Roundup Ready trait has been discovered in wheat growing along an access road leading to an oil rig in a field […] Read more


Players in the Canadian farm industry are calling for everything from a new grain handling system to a complete ban on genetically modified crops in the wake of another GM contamination incident. | File photo

GM wheat discovery prompts calls for changes

Players in the Canadian farm industry are calling for everything from a new grain handling system to a complete ban on genetically modified crops in the wake of another GM contamination incident. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed last week that Roundup Ready wheat volunteers were found growing in an 80-acre field in Oregon. The […] Read more

Education essential for GM wheat to fly

Address critics | Wheat commission says biotech sector has to inform consumers of the benefits

The general manager of the nascent Alberta Wheat Commission says genetically modified wheat is inevitable as a Canadian crop, perhaps within the next decade. Rick Istead told the House of Commons agriculture committee Nov. 20 it will be a necessary development because wheat yields have to in-crease and the crop must become more efficient in […] Read more