CFIA alerted about GM wheat in Alberta

Jun 15, 2018

The wheat contained Monsanto’s Roundup Ready trait

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) revealed that it encountered a variety of GM wheat in southern Alberta last summer.

A producer found the wheat on the side of an access road leading to an oil platform. The farmer contacted Alberta Agriculture after the wheat survived a herbicide application. Alberta Agriculture then forwarded its results to the CFIA for further examination.

The CFIA tested seven plants and found the wheat matched Monsanto’s MON71200 wheat line, an incident report says. Wheat from the same line was used in field trials in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but those trials were conducted about 300 kilometres way from the discovery site.

The wheat also contained Monsanto’s Roundup Ready trait, David Bailey, director of the CFIA’s plant production division, told reporters on a conference call yesterday.

Government officials destroyed the remainder of the plants, giving scientists reason to believe the wheat has not spread to other fields.

“We can say with confidence that is it not in the grain system and not in the seed system because we were able to isolate it and control it and destroy it,” Bailey said.

The CFIA believes the discovery of GM wheat is isolated and should not have any impact on wheat exports.

But the federal government is providing grain buyers with tools and resources to ensure their shipments of Canadian wheat are free of the genetically modified wheat.

“We have developed a test kit that we can share with trading partners who wish to test their own grain that’s imported from Canada,” Bailey said. “We are prepared for any questions that come from trading partners.”

“The government is going to provide information to allow our trading partners to make informed, science-based decisions to continue trading in Canadian wheat,” Kathleen Donohue, executive director of market access coordination for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, said during the conference call.

Canadian trading partners, however, don’t feel the same way.

Japan, who imported more than 1.6 million tons of Canadian wheat in 2015, is suspending further purchases in light of the GM discovery.

“We are suspending the tender and sale of Canadian wheat until we confirm that the Canadian wheat that Japan buys contains no GMO,” an official at the Japanese agriculture ministry said, Reuters reports.

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.