Gmo Wheat???

[Jagfarms]

One topic at the c to c was Gmo wheat.

Are you for or against Gmo wheat.

At this time I am against it until more research is done.

I think it is going to happen sooner than later and I do not agree with it at this time.

What are others thoughts on Gmo wheat?

[lakenheath]

Don't like the idea of Round-up Ready volunteer wheat during spring burn-off.

[Ron]

I would grow it BUT not until we know
about customer/end user acceptance.
Any new GMO crops should use the
terminator gene so volunteers are not an
issue. We have to pay the TUA or equivalent regardless and we can't save
seed for our own use so make it
non-propagating .
Look at the Flax fiasco, now Canaryseed,
GMO wheat would have such potential to
close our markets (cause then its not
about price or "CWB Quality(sarcasm)"
but they can call it "food safety".
It doesn't matter if GMO wheat is safe
or not. What matters is the customers
perception.

[ColevilleH2S]

I have no problem with GMO traits as long as a systematic and comprehensive approval process is passed.

I personally do not want to see a Glyphosate tolerant wheat introduced because of the difficulty and extra expense incurred with controlling the volunteers. And dumb stuff like peanut protein producing traits are obvious no nos.

It is my opinion this is a area where a proper regulatory framework does not exist. Approval of new traits has to be encouraged by stating before hand what is acceptable and what is not. This way the researchers and consumers know ahead of time what game they are playing. After the fact approval is stupid, and a waste of everyone time and money.

[bucket]

holy shit, the cwb is still talking about this without at least developing a policy of where they stand.

I would rather see them develop a rr durum variety. Then I could grow durum on wheat within a couple of years without the volunteer wheat.

Plus its a smaller market and easier to control and segregrate. The acceptance might come easier for the wheat variety.

[BTOfarmall]

Gist whatch you's all need. More Comedians sprayin' Glyphosate on da Land. I tink you's want RR Wheat out of PURE laziness, Roundup easy to spray/deal wit. You's got alot to learn.....

[booboo04]

If you seed RR canola it does not sound like a good idea to seed RR wheat. I seeded Clearfield Canola 6 or 7 yrs ago and it still shows up in my Clearfield Lentils.... So it is likely RR wheat will show up in RR canola, and vise versa.

RR wheat can come, I just will not use it... But you can, does not matter to me.

[Jagfarms]

I have lots of the same feelings Ron has about Gmo wheat.

We are not sure how the customers will react. I think it was over 60 percent of the Cwb customers that are not in favor of Gmo wheat.

We would not be able to keep any of our own seed and we would have to purchase new seed every year.

There has not been enough research into how Gmo wheat can effect our health from my understanding.

[charliep]

When you use the term GMO, what do you mean? Everyone assumes genetically
engineered/transgenics or to be more specific the inclusion of genetic material
from outside species. The genetic material could be closely related (perennial
grass genes into wheat) or completely different species. The assumption is also
herbicide tolerance or Bt (I call bug tolerance because I can't remember the name).

To highlight, GMO whatever your definition, is simply a tool used in plant breeding
to accomplish something. An outcome. Could be herbicide tolerance. Could be
salinity or drought tolerance. Could be a consumer trait. You name the outcome.
A plant breeder will pick the best to accomplish this outcome based on a number
of factors. All will be subject to regulatory review and regulation (PNT in Canada).

The genetic engineering is consumer acceptance/market access. Cost and time are
other factors - $100 million and 10 years with risk all along the way including
liability which oneoff and parsley are introducing. Only the big boys play.

Is genetic engineering the only tool. No. Mutagenesis. No. Many other tools that
use gene mapping, genetic markers, etc. We know alot more about plant genetics,
the more tools that will be put in a plant breeders tool box.

Perhaps the most amazing thing to me is how quickly the debate gets hung up on
the tools of plant and not what needs to be accomplished/the best tools to
accomplish the task at hand.

Asked the question before but what would a fusarium tolerant wheat be worth?
Are we ready for U99 to make the jump from Africa to North America? High starch
wheat for ethanol?

[farmaholic]

Jagfarm

"There has not been enough research into how Gmo wheat can effect our health from my understandig.

I don't know if due diligence was done on canola either or any other GM crop for that matter. As for wheat, there are many "chemical options" available for conventional farmers to use when dealing with wheat. And until it is widely accepted by our customers I think we should leave the genie in its bottle. Besides, wheat(cereals) seems to be a necessary evil sown in between the higher valued special crops. Take the extra expense of seed costs and user agreements(for GMO) out of already dismal returns and there will be even less money in growing this stuff. There has to be a greater net return to the primary producer and overwhelming customer acceptance, otherwise we should leave well enough alone. Not that growing wheat has ever been exceedingly profitable anyway.

[charliep]

Maybe someone can help me with a stupid question I have.

Why is it canola can bring new varieties forward that deal issues (club
root, black leg, etc.) within 2 to 3 years of becoming a bigger
problem and yet fusarium graminearium/mycotoxins associated with
it have been around for 20 years with limited to no varietal solutions
(are fungicide and agronomic solutions but limited effectiveness in a
year like the current one).

What makes cereals different than canola?

[hlg]

Charlie.... could it be that most of our canola seed is patented ownership, so seed companys can charge us whatever we will pay to recover costs of development.. As for gmo wheat, maybe the right way is customer first, farmer second, seed company third. Or let`s flood the market with a product they don`t want. Has triffid taught us nothing....The customer is always right..

[charliep]

Then why are canola acres expanding and wheat stable to
shrinking? My thoughts (you can correct me) is that the farmer
votes with their seed drill based on market signals and profit
potential. If canola seed cost outweighed it benefits, then farmers
would shift acres. If use of plant breeding technology were a major
issue to markets, then western Canadian canola crush and exports
wouldn't be growing. Way off you theme but I suspect Canadian
canola production will be in the 13 to 14 MMT area in 2011.

For what it is worth, the rotation in Alberta is canola, wheat,
canola, wheat, etc. Lots of risks but I suspect the rotation that
pays the bills.

Off your topic of GMO wheat which everyone assumes is round up
ready only. Issues are not just the issue about genetic engineering
and herbicide tolerance. The issues in my mind are determining
where wheat breeding needs to go and what is the best way/tools
to get there.

[farmaholic]

Charlie....

Maybe we could use the old cliche; Wheat is 15% protein and 85% politics. As I posted earlier how do the developers of this new product extact a premium out of an already low margin crop.
If today's GM technology was available in World War 2, I wonder if Europe would have refused several cargoes of wheat/flax/canola then? Unfortunately hunger has a way of easing the GM concern. So with GM we produce more of what well fed people don't want and what the hungry can't afford to buy anyway. Don't get me wrong I am not totally against this but is the jury still out on the opening of Pandora's box. I think we may still be in the infant stage of gene manipulation and unsure of the consequences as this thing matures. Who really knows?

[farmaholic]

Charlie....

Maybe we could use the old cliche; Wheat is 15% protein and 85% politics. As I posted earlier how do the developers of this new product extact a premium out of an already low margin crop.
If today's GM technology was available in World War 2, I wonder if Europe would have refused several cargoes of wheat/flax/canola then? Unfortunately hunger has a way of easing the GM concern. So with GM we produce more of what well fed people don't want and what the hungry can't afford to buy anyway. Don't get me wrong I am not totally against this but is the jury still out on the opening of Pandora's box. I think we may still be in the infant stage of gene manipulation and unsure of the consequences as this thing matures. Who really knows?