July 20, 2009

South Australian Farmers' Federation grains industry committee Friday (July 17) said plans by Monsanto Co. to renew efforts to develop genetically modified wheat will help farmers find the new varieties they will need if climatic conditions worsen as predicted.

Michael Schaefer, chairman of the committee, endorsed the commercialization of GM in wheat inherent in Monsanto's decision.

"The University of Adelaide is conducting trails on wheat and barley that has been genetically modified for enhanced drought, boron and abiotic stress tolerance," Schaefer said in a statement. "If these trials are successful, it is important that commercialization follow."

South Australia's government will have to approve GM crops being grown in the state, but farmers need to be allowed the choice of growing GM crops if they are to remain competitive with other Australian farmers, he said.

Monsanto announced Tuesday it will resurrect its efforts to genetically engineer wheat five years after resistance from the food industry forced the company to drop its work on the world's most widely planted crop.

Monsanto plans to create wheat that can tolerate drought and consume less fertilizer, among other things. But any GM seeds probably won't reach farmers for at least eight years, time that Monsanto executives hope they can use to smooth over any concerns within the wheat industry, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Monsanto's plan came to light Tuesday when it announced that it had definitively agreed to buy WestBred LLC, a small, closely held Montana wheat-breeding outfit, for US$45 million. Monsanto will probably have to spend another US$100 million on research and development to bring its first genetically modified wheat plant to market, the Journal reported.