November 12, 2007

 

Local demand for US biotech corn remains strong

 

 

Genetically-modified corn farmers in the US will not worry on corn supply glut as local demand is surging due to its in-plant insect control and herbicide resistance, which bring cleaner fields, higher yields and higher profits, reports Iowa daily WFC Courier. 

 

Domestic consumers readily feed and process genetically-modified corn and soy once it is federally approved as safe. GMO supporters say there are no documented cases of such crops making people ill.

 

According to the government statistics, 73 percent is genetically modified, up 12 percent from last year.

 

Though there are some countries like the European Union have put a roadblock on genetically-modified corn due to health reservations, area farmers and grain buyers say they are having no problems marketing corn or soy --- 91 percent of the nation's soy acres are biotech --- this year.

 

There are hungry ethanol plants and livestock, and grain processors and many countries welcome the technology, officials said. Prior to planting, farmers are informed by seed companies and dealers what countries accept a variety, and receive written documentation to sign.

 

Few biotech varieties aren't accepted by the nation's major export customers, such as Japan, China and Mexico. But even varieties not widely accepted overseas are easily sold domestically.

 

With harvest wrapping up and next year's seed decisions on the horizon, grain marketing experts suggest farmers do their homework and contact potential buyers prior to buying seed. Always make sure there's a buyer, officials said.

 

Crop experts say farmers shouldn't take marketing for granted. Occasionally seed varieties are released that don't have full export approval, especially for primary buyers, which can cause problems.

 

Last spring the Minnesota Department of Agriculture stopped the sale of Syngenta's Agrisure RW, genetically modified to control rootworms, because it wasn't approved in Japan. It was approved this fall, but not before a disruption in export sales. The Iowa Corn Growers Association also warned members than Agrisure RW could lead to marketing problems.

 

In 2000, genetically-modified StarLink corn caused an uproar and disruption to export markets. It wasn't approved for human consumption, yet ended up in the food supply and overseas shipments.

 

The nation has since recovered, but producers say to err on the side of caution and think about customer needs. Nick Meier, a farmer and seed dealer near La Porte City, always informs customers of marketing issues with GMO seed.

 

The nation's farmers planted 92 million acres of corn, up 19 percent from last year and the most since 1944. Soy acreage nationwide was down 15 percent this year to 64.1 million acres.

 

Corn demand is up, primarily due to the booming ethanol industry. Grain exports also remain strong.

 

One out of five bushels of corn will be exported this year, or 2.15 billion bushels, according to government projections. That is slightly up from 2006-07. Japan is the best US customer, importing 649 million bushels in 2006. Mexico is second at 350 million bushels, followed by South Korea, Taiwan, Egypt and Columbia.

 

US soy exports totalled a record 1.11 billion bushels for the 2006-07 marketing year, which ended on Aug. 31. China is the country's best buyer of soy, importing 420 million bushels. Mexico is second and Japan third.

 

While Europe isn't a big buyer of soy and rarely buys whole-kernel corn, European countries do buy processed grain and are becoming a big purchaser of dried distillers grain, a by-product of ethanol production. Plants that sell distillers grain overseas must adhere to biotech export rules.

 

The National Corn Growers Association has a section of its Web site --- www.ncga.org --- dedicated to informing members which seed traits are approved for export and which are not.

 

About 80 to 90 seed companies are represented and about 5,000 hybrids.