Truth about Trade and Technology, IA
10-31-06
Wisner/WORC Report on Biotech Wheat Misleading
A report by ag economist Robert Wisner of Iowa State University, "Potential
Market Impacts from Commercializing Round-Up Ready Wheat," is misleading,
sponsored by a fringe environmental activist group that opposes biotechnology in
agriculture.
The report was released in September by Wisner and the Western Organization
of Resource Councils, an environmental activist group which includes the Dakota
Resource Council as an affiliate. Both are profiled online at
www.activistcash.com
"This report is not peer reviewed, independent research," says Al Skogen, a
Valley City, N.D. farmer and chairman of Growers for Biotechnology. "The
WORC/DRC funded Wisner's report and collaborated on the information it
contains. Among the information sources listed as references are Friends of the
Earth and Greenpeace, which brings into question the credibility of the
WORC/DRC report, as well as their affiliations and motivations."
Skogen says the report fails to take into account domestic and export markets
that would accept biotech wheat, as well as the prospective economic benefits.
The main determining factor for the success and profitability of biotech wheat
production is the ability of the marketing/transportation system to develop a
segregation system which is affordable, dependable, and acceptable to foreign
consumers, according to the study "Potential Impacts of GM Wheat on United
States and Northern Plains Wheat Trade" by Richard Taylor, Eric DeVuyst, and
Won Koo of the NDSU Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies.
Their research indicated a market differential of about $2-$4 per metric ton or 5
to 10 cents per bushel comparing the price for biotech wheat compared to nonbiotech. Skogen says this differential would be more than offset by lower
production and input costs as well as higher yields. These are among the
potential benefits in the commercialization of biotech wheat that have been
pointed out by both economists Dr. Colin Carter at the University of California
and Dr. Bill Wilson at NDSU.
Skogen says that there is no biotech wheat yet commercially available, however
the discussion goes way beyond the round up ready technology. There is
potential value up and down the food chain for wheat with better drought
tolerance, scab/vomitoxin tolerance, better nutrient utilization, salt tolerance,
better weed control, and traits targeted at consumers and end users, such as
better nutrients, milling and baking characteristics, allergy-free, and enhanced
starch and renewable fuel capabilities.
"Biotechnology should of course be viewed as just one facet of wheat R&D. It
isn't the cure-all remedy for everything that ails the wheat industry. Without
biotechnology in the research toolbox, however, wheat will continue to lose
ground to other crops," Skogen says.
The Wisner/WORC report inadvertently acknowledges this acreage trend. The
report attributes the decline in wheat acreage in part to 'accelerated growth in
demand for alternative crops and development of varieties of alternative crops
more suited to the short growing season of the Northern Plains.' "What are those
crops that are replacing wheat? They're primarily biotech corn, soybeans, and
canola " he says.
Misinformation invoked by a small yet vocal group of activists left unchecked only
serves to fan unjust skepticism about a technology that is the most regulated and
researched of any ever adopted within agriculture, Skogen says.
No biotech wheat is yet commercially available, however it is estimated that over
70% of foods purchased in the US grocery stores already contain accepted
biotech ingredients, Skogen says. Further, he points out that over 10 billion acres
of biotech crops have been grown successfully worldwide, and much of the world
already buys and accepts other biotech grain.
"Canola, corn, and soybeans produced organically, conventionally, and through
biotechnology are segregated and marketed successfully every day within
domestic and global markets for food, feed, and fuel uses," Skogen says.