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Biotech crops cripple organic farms

Reporter: Prue Adams

First Published: 14/11/2004

Every weekday morning, canola futures are traded at the commodities = exchange=20 in Winnipeg, Canada.

Eighty per cent of the world's canola is = bought and=20 sold through this room. The prices reached here set the global=20 standard.

Returns were up a little at the time we = visited.

An=20 unusually cool summer means the Canadian canola crop has not done too = well, and=20 the old rules of supply and demand have kicked in.

"Usually this = time of=20 year the sun is shining, the dust is flying," canola grower Bruce = Dalgarno=20 said.

"Now this year we are fighting with water and mud and = it=92s not very=20 conducive to good harvest weather. No it's certainly boggy isn't = it."

The=20 Canadian prairies are sometimes referred to as the breadbasket of the = world.=20 They're the northern hemisphere's version of the Australian wheat belt, = only=20 bigger.

Farmers like Bruce Dalgarno grow wheat and canola in = rotation -=20 one year canola, the next wheat.

In Australia, they are winter = crops. In=20 Canada they're grown in summer.

It's a short season, with the = seeds=20 planted in May.

In August, it's swathing time. The tops of the = plants=20 are cut so the oil-filled seeds can dry out before harvest.

Take = a walk=20 through a canola crop in Canada, and the chances are it's genetically = modified.=20 Around 75 per cent of the crop this year is GM.

All of that is = tolerant=20 to the use of herbicides - either glyphosate or glufosinate ammonium. It = yields=20 at least 10 per cent more than the varieties currently grown in = Australia. But=20 it's not this yield advantage which impresses Canadian growers so much.=20

When the Canola Council commissioned a study a few years back to = find=20 the impact of biotech crops on farming, it was weed management that = topped the=20 list of reasons why Canadian farmers were so readily adopting = genetically=20 modified canola.

"Canola is a crop that has difficulty with = respect to=20 competition with weeds and when herbicide tolerance was brought in it = allowed=20 farmers to essentially spray the canola crop and kill the weeds, = increase their=20 yield and reduce the amount of time it took to manage the crop," Barbara = Isman,=20 president of the Canola Council of Canada, said.

"If we were = using=20 conventional canola and trying to control some of the hard-to-control = weeds we=20 would need to spray sometimes three times or maybe four times, whereas = now all=20 it takes is two applications of a half-a-litre of glyphosate or the = application=20 of liberty link or liberty herbicide," Mr Dalgarno said.

Last = year Bruce=20 and his wife Carol took their pro-GM message to Australia. The trip was = funded=20 by the Australian organisation Agrifood Awareness, a group supported = partly by=20 the chemical industry and the National Farmers Federation.

In a=20 fortnight, this prairie farmer spoke with hundreds of Australian cockies = at 24=20 different meetings.

"Well at almost all of the meetings we went = to it=20 was, I would say, mostly positive," Mr Dalgarno said. "There certainly = was a=20 group there and they seemed to go from meeting to meeting that were = anti-GM.=20

"They had heard we had lost markets, they had heard we had super = weeds=20 all over the place and we couldn't control them. Well that's just not = true. We=20 do not have those problems with weeds, you know with the mixing of the = pollen=20 and the pollen drift.

"We haven't really lost any markets you = know. There=20 were several people over there commenting that we had lost the market to = Japan.=20 Well we haven't. We've consistently shipped 1.8, 1.9. 1.7 millions = tonnes of=20 canola year in, year out. They are our best seed = customer."

Reporter Prue=20 Adams asked: "Would you want to see Australians take up GM canola = because=20 wouldn't=92t that mean more competition for Canadian = growers?"

"Well it's=20 funny you ask that Prue because when we were in Australia a little over = a year=20 ago, at most of the meetings, somebody asked me that question as well, = as why=20 are you a Canadian grower over here telling us your experiences in = Canada and I=20 guess my answer to you is yes, I would like to see Australia because I = think we=20 need as a canola grower, worldwide by and large we're a niche market, = we're a=20 very small market so if we want a major food processor to use canola oil = in=20 their product they have to be assured of a supply," Mr Dalgarno=20 said.

Canola oil is used in everything from margarine to soap. = Canada is=20 the biggest user of its own canola, followed by Japan, then Mexico. =

But=20 when Canada went biotech eight years ago, Europe stopped buying their=20 canola.

While the Canadian Canola Council says Europe only took a = few=20 tonnes here and there anyway, it is obviously a sore = point.

"We're often=20 asked about the European Union because it's been such a sticking point = on GM,"=20 Barbara Isman said.

"The European Union is an opportunistic = market for=20 the canola industry in Canada."

Mr Dalgarno said: "Well I think = it is a=20 concern, any time you sort of lock yourself out of a market it is a = concern but=20 on the other hand you sort of have to ask yourself a question: Is Europe = actually a market? Because by and large Europe is a net exporter of rape = seed=20 and canola."

"That was a conscious decision that was made by the = industry=20 that they would live with whatever the European Union came up with in = terms of a=20 timing on regulatory approval," Ms Isman said.

"I don't think = that they=20 thought it would take seven, 10 years to get around to it but it was = simply a=20 decision that they that this was not a critical market to = us."

Adams=20 asked: "In terms of market access and pricing do you think that = Australia has an=20 advantage over Canadian canola because of our GM free = status?"

"Yes I=20 believe that Australia has had an advantage in that respect," Ms Isman=20 said.

"It's just whether it's returned anything to the farmer is=20 questionable. We could do it ourselves and couldn't find any benefit for = the=20 farmer in it."

Australian canola growers send just over 10 per = cent of=20 their crop to Europe. It's not a market they'd be keen to = lose.

It was a=20 market Dale Beaudoin didn't want to lose either.

He grows = broadacre=20 organic crops in Saskatchewan, one of the central grain growing states = of=20 Canada.

"I decided to go organic in 1988. I could no longer see = myself=20 giving these chemical companies so much money to reproduce my crop," Mr = Beaudoin=20 said.

"There were just so few of you, that you felt maybe like a = skunk=20 at a garden party."

In the 1998/99 summer he grew organic canola = and had=20 a buyer for it.

"I had contracted some canola with a trader down = in=20 Quebec, eastern Canada and GMO was starting to be a concern so they were = all=20 testing it for the GMO gene," he said.

"My neighbour and myself = sent some=20 down there to be tested and the report came back that there was a trace = of GMO=20 and therefore it just seemed like the buyer completely backed = off."

Dale=20 Beaudoin lost the transaction and about $1,400 on the deal.

He no = longer=20 grows organic canola. This year he's harvesting organic hard red spring=20 wheat.

In fact, it appears there's no one left who farms organic = canola=20 in Canada.

And this farmer from the state of Saskatchewan forms a = pivotal=20 part of a proposed class action of organic growers against Monsanto and = Bayer=20 Cropscience - the biotech companies that introduced genetically modified = canola=20 to Canada in the first place.

"The other plaintiff and myself are = representing about 1,100 farmers and that could be even a little higher = than=20 that, but at least 1,100 that are organic farmers," he = said.

Adams asked:=20 "And they are farmers that say they have lost the ability to grow = organic canola=20 because of the prevalence of GM canola?"

"Yes exactly, it's such = a=20 contamination problem," he said.

"The pollen and the wind blowing = the=20 conventional farmers into ours. Birds might spread it. It's actually a=20 catastrophe for organic producers."

Canola pollen can travel = kilometres.=20 There is just a road separating Dale Beaudoin's field from his = neighbour's=20 genetically modified canola.

Adams asked: "Given that pollen can = flow=20 from crop to crop in canola fairly easily, is it possible to have = segregation of=20 GM and non-GM canola?"

"Yes it is possible," Ms Isman=20 said.

"Obviously the amount of tolerance is going to dictate the = cost of=20 doing that and so you can set up a system where the tolerances are low, = are=20 zero.

"It would be extremely expensive, which would lead me to = say that=20 people don=92t pay enough for food as it is but you know adding he cost = of=20 complete segregation into that is just unworkable for a bulk handling = system so=20 we can segregate so long as tolerances are kept at a level that is = economically=20 manageable."

Adams asked: "Now there's this prospective lawsuit = with the=20 Saskatchewan organic farmers. What does the Canola Council feel about = that=20 particular case?"

"Well we don=92t and haven=92t been involved in = any of the=20 legal side of it," Ms Isman said.

"But what I will say is that we = went=20 back through the records and there were 12,000 acres of organic canola = in its=20 heyday.

"There's 12 million acres grown this past year so we're = not=20 talking about a significant piece of the canola = business."

Organic canola=20 wasn't significant in overall tonnage but it was significant for those = who grew=20 it, not least because it was another crop that could be used in their = organic=20 rotation.

"Is there a dollar value that can be put on the loss to = organic=20 farmers in this prairie region?" Adams asked Terry Boehme, from the = National=20 Union of Farmers.

"Well preliminary studies suggest it's = approximately=20 $14 million for organic producers," he said.

"For conventional = canola=20 producers they lost about $900 million in sales to Europe, for example." =

Terry Boehme grows conventional crops and is fighting the future = by=20 saving his own seeds.

"I would say minimum of 98 per cent of = production=20 in Canada of spring wheat would be farm saved," Mr Boehme = said.

He's a=20 major figure in the National Union of Farmers (NFU), a generally anti-GM = group,=20 which is right behind the organic farmers' legal action.

The NFU = says=20 choice has been the loser.

A Canadian and a canola grower = himself, Kerry=20 Preete at Monsanto, believes organic and biotech crops can happily=20 co-exist.

"We've seen certainly in corn and soybeans rapid = adoption of=20 the technology in those crops, at the same time we've seen organic = production of=20 corn and soybeans increase significantly at the same time so that points = to the=20 fact that both organic crops and biotechnology crops can thrive = alongside one=20 another," Mr Preete said.

His analysis is backed up by a report = from the=20 UK research group PG Economics, which surveyed organic growers in the US = and=20 found [that] "92 per cent of all organic farmers had not incurred any = direct,=20 additional costs due to GM crops being grown nearby".

It must be = noted=20 that of all the reports PG Economics has conducted, they're all positive = towards=20 biotech crops. Read into that what you will.

There are examples = in the=20 field, though, of organic and GM crops co-existing.

Last week on = Landline, we met Leon Corzine, who grows conventional and BT = corn in=20 central Illinois.

His next door neighbour is totally = organic.

"We=20 farm side by side or across the road from one another," Mr Corzine=20 said.

"In my program I work the ground, till at one time in the = spring=20 and then we plant in early April. My organic neighbour will till his = soil at=20 about the same time but then he lets it lay idle, and waits for rain and = then he=20 gets another crop of weeds come up and then he works it = again."

Leon=20 Corzine plants his corn earlier than his organic neighbour, so the two = crops=20 won't be pollinating at the same time.

But even if canola growers = in=20 Canada were able to co-ordinate their crops like the corn-growing = Corzines, some=20 farmers are still concerned about GM plants and seeds turning up where = they are=20 not welcome.

"I don't think it is possible to introduce this = without=20 issues of seed contamination and there is all sorts of documented = evidence of=20 farmers who have never grown canola finding volunteers of GM canola = showing up=20 in their fields," Mr Boehme said.

Super weeds - it's a term been = coined=20 by those who are not in favour of genetically modified = crops.

Whether=20 they're a reality now or in the future is debatable.

There are = fears=20 canola could cross with known weeds and because of the herbicide = tolerant trait=20 be resistant to the use of the most common sprays.

Then, because = there is=20 such widespread use of the herbicide glyphosate these days in the US and = Canada,=20 there is concern weeds will build up a resistance and be nigh on = impossible to=20 tackle.

It's already happened with one weed common in soybeans in = the=20 United States.

Not that it seems to bother the American Soybean=20 Association.

Adams asked: "Does the activist group-defined super = weed=20 exist?"

"Yes it does," Kim Nill said.

"Herbicide = resistant weeds=20 have been around and emerged approximately the day I was born, that was = 1958 and=20 that was a short time after the use of commercial herbicides had started = and as=20 soon as commercial herbicides started you have selective killing of the = weeds=20 population.

"In a given field and due to natural inherbat good = old=20 mother nature and genetic variation a few of the weeds survived the = spraying.=20

"So beginning in approximately 1958, the US Government started = its=20 collecting of formally declared herbicide resistant weeds.

"It = has always=20 been a problem it will always be a problem."

Ms Isman said: "We = hear=20 about this but we only hear about it from the media and from the = opponents of=20 genetic modification. We don't hear about it from the farmers per say.=20

"Now it is a possibility yes it's a possibility.

"Can it = be=20 managed? Yes it can in using a different chemical or a different cop = protection=20 product to kill that weed.

"So you know it is raised as an issue = but we=20 haven=92t seen it as an issue."

Perhaps one of the factors that = may have=20 reduced the growth of so-called super weeds in Canadian canola is that, = while=20 Monsanto's round-up ready canola is widely used, Bayer Cropscience is = the other=20 major force here.

And that company's product can withstand doses = of=20 glufosinate ammonium from a completely different group of=20 herbicides.

"Prue, this here is one of our latest invigour = hybrids,"=20 Brigitee Weston, of canola development at Bayer Cropscience, = said.

"We=20 have in the development pipeline. We have been quite fortunate in the = last four=20 years we have had the highest yielding canolas on the Canadian market=20 place."

Bayer Cropscience's main research site sits on the windy=20 outskirts of the city of Saskatoon in western Canada.

The = company's=20 concentrating on breeding GM canola with resistance to diseases like the = devastating "black leg", also the scourge of Australian = growers.

Bayer=20 has chosen a slightly different path from market leader Monsanto. =

It's=20 taken a leaf out of the American corn industry's book and concentrated = on hybrid=20 varieties of canola.

Global canola development manager Dr = Brigette Weston=20 says hybrids produce more crop to the acre than the open-pollinated=20 types.

"Our number one criteria is yield because that's what our = farmers=20 want from us, they're looking at us for high yielding canola varieties. = So if=20 you're asking me to prioritise the top three traits, it's yield, yield = and=20 yield," Dr Weston said.

One of the advantages of using hybrids is = that=20 there is not much benefit for farmers in saving seeds from year to=20 year.

Where Monsanto has come under fire for insisting farmers to = don't=20 re-use their GM seeds, it's not much of an issue for Bayer.

"If a = farmer=20 wants to regrow his seeds in the f2 generation he won't have that same=20 consistency, he won't have the same yield benefits and he will not have = a lot of=20 that stress tolerance that we see in the f1 and therefore we recommend = that a=20 farmer of course buy that f1 if he wants to take advantage of our = quality=20 product," Dr Weston said.

While Bayer has almost a third of the = canola=20 market in Canada this year, farmers find its herbicide is not as useful = as=20 glyphosate.

Monsanto's Roundup Ready canola still captures the = lion's=20 share of the Canadian market.

So Roundup Ready wheat would go off = like=20 hotcakes. Right? Not so.

In May this year, after spending = millions of=20 dollars on research and development, Monsanto bowed to public pressure = and=20 withdrew its efforts to commercialise GM wheat tolerant to its = herbicide,=20 Roundup.

Across Canada there was an audible sigh of relief. =

A=20 report commissioned earlier by the wheat board had found that customers = who=20 bought 87 per cent of the spring wheat by prairie farmers would not grow = GM=20 wheat. To jeopardise that much of their market was just not a palatable = option=20 for Canadian wheat growers.

"Customers first came to us and said = do you=20 have any GM wheat in production in Canada and if you do we don't want it = or if=20 you do grow GM wheat at some point we may not buy your products any more = and=20 that first came out of the Japanese customers and UK millers = particularly, they=20 were the first to the table saying we need to guarantee that we're not = going to=20 get gm wheat in or shipments,=94 Patty Rosher, program manger for the = Canadian=20 Wheat Board (CWB), said.

Like Australia, Canada has a single desk = for=20 marketing all its wheat, so it was pretty easy for the CWB to make an=20 all-of-industry decision.

It lobbied hard for Monsanto to drop = its plans=20 for GM wheat.

"I think it shows that Monsanto has listened to the = concerns that have been expressed to them and they have acted = responsibly," Ms=20 Rosher said.

"On the other hand you never like to see a product = fail so=20 early in the process and if we had had the opportunity earlier to be = heard then=20 I think we could have saved Monsanto a lot of money."

Mr Preete = said:=20 "Our primary reason for setting aside wheat at this point in time really = is the=20 market opportunity, the commercial opportunity that we saw versus = opportunities=20 that we saw in other crops but part of the reason Roundup Ready wheat = was not a=20 goer, according the wheat board, was that wheat growers didn't rate = weeds as a=20 major problem."

In canola, market resistance to GM was worth the = grief=20 because of the benefits to farmers with weed control but wheat growers = are more=20 interested in disease resistance.

"There would be a group of = farmers that=20 would be very interested in a fusarium resistant wheat," Ms Rosher=20 said.

"It really causes significant downgrades for them and loss = of=20 revenue. It's also something that customers could be interested in = because=20 fusarium can cause some functionality problems in baking, it can also = have a=20 food safety issue because of the toxin that is produced from = it."

The=20 Syngenta company, which incidentally developed the first BT corn, has a=20 genetically modified fusarium resistant wheat in the = pipeline.

It's not=20 destined to hit the market until 2010 though.

There is one other = reason=20 why so many Canadian farmers are relieved that round-up ready wheat = didn't=20 fly.

"The biggest concern that we had was with the interaction in = a=20 rotation where a farmer may be growing Roundup Ready wheat and Roundup = Ready=20 canola, one year after the other," Ms Rosher said.

"In the first = year you=20 would grow Roundup Ready wheat, in the second year if you were growing = RR=20 canola, there would still be some of the Roundup Ready wheat in that = field=20 because of the volunteers, you know some of the grain that's left over = from the=20 harvest the previous year sprouts and grows.

"If you have a = Roundup=20 Ready field, canola or otherwise, it would be very difficult to spray = Roundup=20 and kill that, which is what farmers usually do. Roundup is a very = popular=20 chemical."

Ms Isman said: "It's not our place to really comment = on the=20 issues of Roundup Ready wheat but yes there would be management issue = that would=20 have been associated with growing Roundup Ready wheat and Roundup Ready = canola=20 on a rotation."

On a farm a few hours drive from Winnipeg, Bruce = Dalgarno=20 says he's happy to pay an extra $15 an acre in technology fees to = Monsanto.=20

He uses generic glyphosate instead of Roundup because it's = cheaper.=20 Farmers can do that now that Monsanto is off patent.

"If we were = using=20 conventional canola and trying to control some of the hard to control = weeds we=20 would need to spray sometimes three times or maybe four times whereas = now, all=20 it takes is two applications of a half-a-litre of glyphosate or the = application=20 of Liberty Link or Liberty herbicide," Mr Dalgarno said.

Mr = Boehme is=20 not convinced. He's envious of Australia's position as a largely GM-free = farming=20 country and realises putting the biotech genie back in the bottle in = Canada=20 would not be an easy task.

"It's a David and Goliath battle but = we know=20 who won that one," Mr Boehme said.

"One hundred and fifty years = ago when=20 the first internal combustion engine spluttered to life, if someone = walked=20 around and said you know this thing is going to alter the world's = climate to=20 your detriment, they'd have said you're crazy and those of us who are = concerned=20 about GM crops and the like have all sorts of these examples to use.=20

"Maybe human wisdom says before we use this stuff extensively, = we should=20 know more. And we don't know an awful lot about them, they've been=20 commercialised very quickly."

Ms Isman said: "The advantage of=20 biotechnology has been at the production level so far.

"But what = will=20 gene technology do in the future? Well we have looked at everything from = shatter=20 resistance, stress tolerance, we've been through a terrible drought, not = unlike=20 Australia, to this year frost in the middle of August and so gene = technology=20 might provide a solution.

"The last thing we want to see is all = the=20 R&D go into soybeans and have an environment where canola = doesn't=92t get that=20 and so for us the gene technology, genetic modification is that, yes, = there are=20 benefits today but there are likely to be larger benefits in the=20 future."

Resources

Landline used these reports and web sites = as part=20 of our research into our GM programs:

Web=20 sites:

ABARE

American Soybean = Association

Bayer Cropscience

Biotechnology = Australia

Canola Council of = Canada

Canadian Wheat Board

Bill Crabtree's personal web=20 site

Gene Ethics=20 Network

GM = Watch

International Service for the Acquisition = of=20 Agro-Biotech Applications

Monsanto

Network of Concerned = Farmers

Office of Biotechnology=20 Information

Office of the = Gene=20 Technology Regulator

Saskatechewan Organic=20 Directorate

United = States=20 Department of Agriculture

US = National=20 Corn Growers = Association

Reports

Benbrook,=20 C., 2001, Do GM crops mean less pesticide use? [online] San = Francisco,=20 mindfully.org. Available from:=20 http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/More-GMOs-Less-Pesticide.htm = [Accessed 13=20 November 2004]

Benbrook, C., May 2001, Troubled times amid = commercial=20 success of RR soybeans [online] San Francisco, mindfully.org = Available=20 from: http://www.mindfully.org/GE/GE2/RRS-Troubled-Benbrook.htm = [Accessed 13=20 November 2004]

Bennett, RM., Ismael, V., Kambhampati, U., and = Morse, S.,=20 2004, Economic impact of genetically modified cotton in India.=20
Berkshire, University of Reading. Available from"=20 http://www.monsantoafrica.com/content/resources/scientific/04/09-04.pdf=20 [Accessed 13 November 2004)

Demont, M., and Tollens, E., 2004, = First=20 Impact of Biotechnology in the EU: Bt Maize Adoption in Spain = Annals of=20 Applied Biology, 145(3): 197-207.

National Centre for Food and=20 Agricultural Policy, 2002. Plant biotechnology: current and = potential impact=20 for improving pest management in US agriculture. United States. =

Contacts

Barbara Isman, Canola Council of Canada
Email: isman@canola-council.org =

Brigitte Weston, Global Development Manager, Canola, Bayer=20 Cropscience
Email: brigitte.weston@baye= rcropscience.com=20

Patty Rosher, Canadian Wheat Board
Ph: 0011 1 204 983 3101

Stuart Well, President, National Union of Farmers
Email: toews.wells@sasktel.net=20