The Rural Voice, 1998-02, Page 25Old crop — new market
While growers flock to genetically -
altered varieties, there's a niche
market for non -altered crops
By Blake Patterson
Today everything is becoming
more specialized. Be it a
television station dedicated to
golf or increasing demand for high -
oil corn, there seems to be a specific
market for everything.
Corn may still be corn today, but
as bio -technology continues to
provide growers with more market -
specific crops, tomorrow may see
growers focus more on niche markets
for their crops, said OMAFRA crop
specialist Brian Hall.
According to Hall, genetically
modified plants such as Round -Up
resistant soybeans and corn borer
resistant corn are just the beginning
of what genetic engineering will
provide agriculture in the future.
Specific demand for something
like high oil corn, for example, will
lead to more farmers producing crops
which are "specific to purpose". Hall
said researchers predict bio-
technology may revolutionize our
lifestyle more than the computer. The
change which has brought a computer
into most homes may seem dramatic,
but bio -technology and genetic
engineering will affect things such as
pharmaceutical production and could
have a greater impact on our whole
society.
But bio -technology isn't
everyone's cup of tea. That's why an
18,000 ton boatload of non -
genetically modified, identity -
preserved soybeans set sail from
Goderich Harbour November 14 for
London, England.
The shipment is believed to be the
first of its kind ever shipped from
Canada and will supply soybeans to a
European market which is becoming
increasingly wary of genetically
engineered beans.
"It scares the living daylights out
of them," said John McIntosh of
Mike Snobelen Farms Limited, the
Lucknow-area grain dealer which
arranged the shipment.
McIntosh said there is a growing
market for non -genetically altered
beans in Europe because there is a
growing concern about anything
which could impact the natural
balance of the environment.
In recent years, an increasing
number of soybean varieties have
been genetically modified to make
them resistant to Round -Up
herbicide.
The modification allows farmers
to kill all weeds in their soybean
fields with one, rather several,
"Environmentalists (in
Europe) are so powerful they
can control what is in the
grocery store."
chemical sprays. The fields are
sprayed and all weeds are killed, but
the "Round -Up resistant" beans
survive.
The benefit is a substantial saving.
Rather than spending $30 - $40 per
acre to carefully spray fields and kill
specific weeds, the farmer can use
one herbicide and kill all weeds for
about $9 per acre.
With such savings, the Round -Up
resistant beans have become the
popular choice of many farmers in
the United States and Canada.
McIntosh said the change to
genetically -modified beans has been
quick and dramatic. The DNA -based
technology is only a few years old,
but already half the soybeans
produced by the 70 -million ton U.S.
market are of the Round -Up resistant
variety.
Hall said the advantage of bio-
technology is it gives farmers greater
"yield stability".
In the case of the corn, for
example, increasing numbers of arca
farmers, over the past two years, have
turned to the use of corn hybrids
engineered to be resistant to the corn
borer. Hall said the use of
genetically -engineered seeds does not
increase yields directly, but they do
allow farmers to better manage risk
and weed control.
He said knowing a crop will not be
weakened by something like the corn
borer gives the grower yield
protection which may translate into
more money. The cost of genetically -
modified seed may be higher, said
Hall, but if less expense is needed to
fight pests and weeds, the overall
production costs for a crop could be
reduced.
But regardless of savings for
farmers, savings for
consumers, or the fact the
Round -Up resistant beans are
considered safe, the Europeans don't
want to risk allowing an "unkillable"
monster to invade their environment.
"Environmentalists (in Europe) are
so powerful they can control what is
in the grocery store," said McIntosh
explaining the increased demand for
unaltered beans. He added the
European general public is willing to
pay more to err on the side of safety.
If two tubs of margarine are on the
shelf, McIntosh said Europeans will
pay the extra dollar for the tub
labelled as "non -genetically
modified."
FEBRUARY 1998 21