GMO wheat causes stir in NW

Wheat markets were hit with some bad news when wheat from an Oregon wheat farm tested positive to be genetically modified.

Japan is temporarily suspending import tenders for western white wheat for food and western wheat for feed. Korea announced that it will test upon arrival all wheat and wheat flour from the United States. The European Union advised its members to test consignments of U.S. soft white wheat.

Monsanto developed wheat that resists Round-Up and was tested in 16 states from 1998 until 2005. The United States Department of Agriculture never released that type of wheat, and it was never sold commercially.

Monsanto dropped that particular type of wheat in 2006, but somehow it got into an Oregon farm field and federal investigators are trying to find how.

Scott Yates, director of communications with the Washington Association of Wheat Growers in Spokane, said the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is the lead government office in the investigation and has 19 investigators working on the incident.

“We have a vital regulatory system we can depend on,” he said. “We believe our customers in Asia are acting appropriately. “

Yates noted harvest starts in about a month, and WAWG hopes harvest can start with a clean slate.

“We feel very optimistic that this is an isolated incident,” he said.

Randy Suess of Steptoe, county representative to the Washington Grain Commission, said genetically modified wheat has no negative affect on flour or noodles. He added the Federal Drug Administration had to authorize it to be seeded. Suess said the FDA found the seed was safe for food, seed and the environment.

Suess said the Oregon farmer identified the wheat as soft white winter wheat which was planted in the fall of 2011 and harvested in 2012. This spring when the farmer sprayed the field with Round-Up to prepare it for summer fallow, the volunteer wheat didn’t die. Less than one percent survived, and the farmer took it to Oregon State University to be tested.

“As a farmer, I’d like to know the history, where it came from?” Suess said. “There’s a lot of unanswered questions.”

APHIS last approved field trials of glyphosate-resistant, or Round-Up resistant, genetically engineered wheat in Oregon in 2001. There are no APHIS-authorized glyphosate-resistant wheat field trials being conducted in Oregon or any neighboring states at this time.

APHIS authorized more than 100 field tests with this specific wheat variety from 1998 through 2005. Field tests were conducted in Washington in addition to Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The FDA’s summary includes the developer’s conclusion that “this wheat variety is not materially different in composition, safety or any other relevant parameter from wheat now grown, marketed and consumed.”

According to APHIS, genetically engineered wheat is not currently authorized for commercial sale or planting in any country.

APHIS said there is no public health concern.

According to the Oregon Wheat Commission, Oregon produces predominantly soft white wheat and exports 90 percent of its wheat production.

At this time, APHIS has no information that this wheat variety entered commerce.

Yates pointed out customers in Asia lack other sources for soft wheat.

“Australia doesn’t have the soft white wheat like we do,” he said.

Suess said he believes that the wheat will be tested clean, and that the markets will rebound.

“The price usually drops this time of year,” Suess said.