Industry struggles with handling of biotech crops

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- It would be so much easier if genetically altered corn were green or purple, instead of the same yellow as plain old ordinary corn.

But there is no simple way to ensure that biotech varieties go only where they're accepted. While some safeguards are already in place, the process is still evolving among seed companies, farmers and grain handlers.

Some say changes aren't happening fast enough to keep up with the steadily increasing use of biotech crops. They fear problems similar to what happened in 2000, when a biotech corn known as StarLink that was not approved for human consumption accidentally got mixed with other crops. The resulting scare triggered food recalls and caused a worldwide drop in corn prices.

"There needs to be some improvement here to avoid a train wreck," said Steve Pigg, president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association.

The percentage of biotech in the Illinois corn crop is still relatively small, about 28 percent, but it has been increasing steadily.

Genetically altered corn is bred to resist plant diseases and pests, allowing producers to increase yields and reduce costs. But some people question the safety of tinkering with nature and currently at least seven biotech corn varieties have not been approved for use in the European Union, according to the National Corn Growers Association.

With the harvest season just a few weeks away in some parts of Illinois, the stakes are high for farmers and grain handlers.

'Identity preservation'

Any commingling of grain, however small, headed for a country that won't accept it endangers the entire shipment, said Peter Goldsmith, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois' College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.

Government leaves it up to the industry to ensure the "identity preservation" of crops, said Jeff Squibb, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Spokesmen for Monsanto Co. and Pioneer Hi-Bred International, two major makers of genetically altered seed, said they have programs aimed at making sure farmers and grain handlers know what to do with biotech crops.

"The responsibility lies with the grower," said Bryan Hurley, a spokesman for Monsanto. "But there is an infrastructure that has been built to facilitate this and information and education to go with that."

Farmers planning to plant biotech seed that isn't approved for export must tell their seed company in the spring which elevator they plan to take the crop to in the fall, spokesmen for Monsanto and Pioneer said.

Seed companies push growers of biotech crops to work only with elevators that are equipped and willing to take them.

"If they aren't we contact the customer and let them know that the handler they listed is not taking the grain and we offer to help find an alternative outlet," said Greg Wandrey, Pioneer's director of product stewardship. About 2,000 elevators willing to take genetically altered corn are listed in a national directory maintained by the American Seed Trade Association.

Come harvest time, elevator operators depend on farmers to tell them if they have genetically altered crops in their truck.

"I'm counting on it. I need to know it. If I don't know it, I've got zero chance" of separating biotech grain during a busy harvest, when more than 800,000 bushels of corn can arrive in a single day, said Dave Hastings, general manager of the Ludlow Co-op Elevator Co., which operates in Champaign, Ford and Iroquois counties.

Grain handlers are paying close attention to the issue, but it isn't easy for elevators accustomed to handling large amounts of the same kind of grain to handle smaller segments of a biotech crop, said Jeff Adkisson, executive director of the Feed and Grain Association of Illinois.

Hastings said biotech grain will be stored in separate bins at his company's elevators. He is training his staff to ask more questions when farmers cross the scales at Ludlow Co-op, but worries that even that won't be fail-safe.

"Sooner or later when we get busy, we won't ask and we'll miss a guy," he said.

Pigg said farmers will do their job, but want more help from seed companies and grain handlers. He said he once was told by one grain elevator "just don't tell us" when he inquired about delivering a biotech variety he had grown.

"It's things like that that we just can't have," he said. "Everybody has to try to do the best thing so we can protect all of our markets."