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An agricultural economist from the University of California says it was a big mistake not to license genetically modified wheat in North America.

Colin Carter, who has written extensively about GM crops and agriculture, says that decision is costing western Canadian farmers $200 million a year.

It was two years ago that the chemical company Monsanto decided not to commercialize its "Roundup-ready" wheat because of widespread opposition from farmers.

Roundup is Monsanto's best-known herbicide. Proponents say that by using genetically manipulated crops that can't be killed by Roundup and other herbicides, farmers can spray for weeds more effectively and cheaply.

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Here's what really caught my attention, and I'd love to hear from people more knowledgable in ths specific area than I am:

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Ritter also disagreed with Carter's assertion that there are untapped markets for GM wheat in developing countries.

"We have to focus and concentrate on the high-quality, high-paying customers or else Western Canada will not be competitive in the wheat business," Ritter said.

Canadian farmers may have no choice but to go the GM route once China starts growing GM wheat, Carter said.

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Organic growers are seriously threatened by any open-pollinated GM crops, because of the potential for contamination of their own crops. In fact, Saskatchewan organic farmers filed a class action lawsuit against Monsanto and Aventis regarding contamination of canola and an injunction against GE wheat. I'd say there are few people more interested in stopping the spread of GM crops.

Has there ever been any thought given to open sourcing seeds?

[ 18 March 2006: Message edited by: Frustrated Mess ]

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That is not what he is saying.

Has there ever been any thought given to open sourcing seeds?

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I hope it's not what he's saying! It came across that way, though.

Regarding China as a competitor for Canada if they start growing GM wheat - I'm not a agricultural trade expert, but how much does China export now? How much non-GM wheat do they grow? How much do we export to them?

Carter also implies that there's an untapped market in developing countries for GM wheat. So our more affluent customers won't take it; we should dump it in poorer countries?

Also, there's this:

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That opposition was largely based on reports from the Canadian Wheat Board that 80 per cent of its customers did not want GM wheat.

Carter says he has traveled the world and talked to many of those same customers and he believes the opposition to GM wheat is more like 20 per cent. Even if some buyers said they did not want GM wheat, they may not have meant it, he said.

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Key words: "he believes." Compared to the market research done by the Canadian Wheat Board, who seem pretty satisfied. So what the CBC should have asked him next was "who funded your study?"

Countries like Cuba that are organic purists largely due to the embargos] are poised to reap huge benefits now with GM hegemony on the horizon elsewhere.

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Regarding China as a competitor for Canada if they start growing GM wheat - I'm not a agricultural trade expert, but how much does China export now? How much non-GM wheat do they grow? How much do we export to them?

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You can't ask that question from a historical perspective. If I understand where it is coming from, from a historical perspective, China has been a net importer of wheat to feed its own population.

To answer the question, we need to view it from a modern, globalization perspective where wheat is not produced for domestic consumption but for export markets.

In other words, if domestic buyers can't afford domestically produced wheat on the international market, they don't get any. They will have to look for cheaper, foreign produced wheat, or, in otherwords, import wheat purchased from the same international market.

[ 18 March 2006: Message edited by: Frustrated Mess ]

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Originally posted by Frustrated Mess:
Another scientists sells out to financial interests.

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