FLAX TESTING FOR GM material

[ProFarmer]

I have been informed that after dec 1st my flax grown from certified seed will have to be sampled and sent to saskatoon to be tested for GM material. Heaven knows if it has this GM material heads are going to roll.... Plus who is going to pay for the testing....??????

[Hopperbin]

The testing must start somewhere.

[TOM4CWB]

Pro,

We had a presentation from CGC yesterday in Red Deer.

There are only 3 labs in North America that are certified ISO that can do the test... CGC itself were told not certified yet. The labs are in the US. Each hold will be checked when loading cargos on export. Were told that large bulk flax shipments would not have protocol in place fast enough for shipment to EU before St Lawerence freezeup this fall. Sounded like spring of 2010 opening of seaway was the target.

I signed a protocol declaration and submitted a sample of my Certified Sorrel flax seed... CFIA is testing the stock seed for purity.

The CGC said they WILL NOT inform the EU where shipments of flax originate from (in western Canada)... which IMHO is not smart. Obviously they all know where the GM Flax was grown before 2002... and do not want those areas black balled.

It is obvious this will take time to work through.

I would suggest buying certified seed... from a lot that has been tested and proven to be free of GM flax... and proof that at least 4 years break from last flax grown in rotation... will provide a safe break from GM contamination for future (2010 and beyond) EU shipments.

GM Testing is the only safe way to assure quality that EU requires.

[parsley]

Pro, it could alos shut down flax production entirely on organic farms.

Certified conventional seed growers have also been growing organic flax. Both conventional and organic have depended upon these seed growers for integrity.

Therefore, Triffid growers should be listed and contamination areas should be defined. That way, organic growers can avoid them.

Isn't that what accountability is? Isn't that what municipalities do with wild daisies?

Often, registered seed growers clean seed for their neighbors, and a lot of of them have also become certified organic. We need to avoid these facilities.

Business cannot and should not go on as usual on Triffid-loving farms.

Parsley





Some cerified

[Fransisco]

Will note that the EU recently approved two of the three GM corn varieties that screwed up US soybean shipments because of GM corn 'dust'. Triffid and any other GM flax that's out there should be run through the same approval process.

[Fransisco]

Speaking of hell to pay, I found this story of interest.

http://gmopundit.blogspot.com/2009/10/mexican-race-debate-heats-up-further.html

The private company, Genetic ID, that supposedly found the "triffid" flax, has a history of jumping to conclusions based on little evidence and faulty methodologies. That was the case here with supposed GM corn in Mexico from the story above. What if the same is true when it comes to Triffid?

It seems to explain why European authorities may have been so uncooperative in sharing the details of their findings.

Some quotes from the story

"...it is hard to conclude from the provided data whether this is a true positive result as the authors provided neither confirmatory Southern blot data nor information regarding the specific corn event."

" ...that the sample number was too small in both the study and that sampling was not representative of the total Oxacan maize population."

"Therefore, our conclusion from both publications on this topic is that results obtained to date are not sufficient to ascertain whether introgression of transgenic traits into the Mexican maize population has or has not taken place."

" There are good reasons to believe that such limited focus may place Genetic ID’s methods at a relative disadvantage for detecting transgenic DNA sequences in landrace maize."

[checking]

I could see the point in forcing flax testing on farmers if the crop was solely for food consumption in the European theatre. It, however, is not. Indeed it has been published that there is a market for triffid mixed flax, and likely at no difference in price to what a European is prepared to pay.

I don't much like making testing companies fat off of foisting yet another 100% compliance requirement on the primary producer.

[parsley]

I was led to understand that food flax sent to the EU was worth $1.00 per bushel more than industrial flax.

[parsley]

Go to:

http://natureinstitute.org/nontarget/report_class.php

They list some of the test results of unintended consequences of gene manipulation. There are five categories you can click on.

TYPE OF NONTARGET EFFECT
Environmental
Food and Feed Quality
Physiological
Morphological
Scrambled DNA

Keep in mind, that unintended circumstance testing has just begun.

And it's not a well-funded goal either. After all, who makes any immediate money from this kind of testing? pars

[parsley]

fransisco, I made comments about regulating Triffid on Parsley's Notebook today.

[checking]

Okay, if that is true, then there would be an incentive to segregate for a specific market, and perform their required tests on that specific amount.

It's just that I've never knowingly pocketed a European food flax premium with the price discovery mechanisms provided by our exporting agents.

Is a Canadian farmer to believe that there is a health danger to a European toddler that happens to lick the linoleum flooring made from a trace amount of triffid flax? Or should the parent have a greater concern for the layer above it?

This smacks of the same logic that all water must be treated through drinking standards facilities when industrial users only require that the water be wet.

We are all forced to pay to protect the sap that can't understand that this water compartment or tap, or flax cargo is not to be drawn from and used for human consumption (even though another continent may not have those concerns.)

[parsley]

Ah, checking, " with the price discovery mechanisms provided by our exporting agents."


Yes, well, maybe there's a teensy weensy question producers should be asking?

[ProFarmer]

why should I have to pay for testing..... I paid dearly for BSE a problem that was not caused by ME. This problem should be hung on the makers of the flax in question including the people that developed it!!!!! Maybe CFIA could be held to acount.

[parsley]

I also think there has to be accountability. If not, the CFIA and the CGC should eb dissolved immediately.

[checking]

Only said to get your motor running, parsley!!!

Here's another. It's been shown that segregating boys from girls in the classrooms improves the test scores for the boys.

I've always believed that women were the problem. (lol)

So, what do I receive for my $105.00 contribution, and does this ever truly end?