Monsanto GM Wheat Not Approved by USDA Found on Oregon Farm
May 30th, 2013Via: Bloomberg:
Genetically modified wheat created by Monsanto Co. (MON) that wasn’t approved for use turned up on an 80-acre farm in Oregon last month, threatening the outlook for U.S. exports of the grain that are the world’s largest.
A farmer attempting to kill wheat with Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide found several plants survived the weedkiller, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday in a statement. Scientists found the wheat was a strain field-tested from 1998 to 2005 and deemed safe before St. Louis-based Monsanto, the world’s largest seedmaker, pulled Roundup Ready wheat from the regulatory approval process on concern that importers would avoid the crop.
“I would imagine even the perception that GM wheat is out there would have some impact on our exports” with so many countries “putting their foot down on not accepting” gene-altered crops, Ryan Larsen, an assistant professor of agribusiness and applied economics at North Dakota State University in Fargo, said by telephone. “This continues that bad persona that GM crops have. It allows people to say ‘See, it’s out there and we’re not being told it’s out there.’ ”
I remember a few years back there was a wheat theft from a test field in the Willamette Valley and there was a bulletin on the news. I couldn’t find the link. Probably out of an OSU research field.
There’s also no ‘approved’ GM rice.
However:
GM Rice Scandal in Turkey from U.S. Imports Reaches International Proportions. Part 1 – Background
http://aysebereket.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/gm-rice-scandal-in-turkey-from-u-s-imports-reaches-international-proportions-part-1-background/