Biotech Wheat Bill Creates Problem 

Jim Gransbery / Billings Gazette 25jan01

A freshman Florence representative wants to protect Montana’s wheat markets from being tainted by the controversy over genetically modified organisms.

But his call for a moratorium on the production of GM wheat is exclusionary and would prevent wheat breeders at Montana State University from continuing their work while scientists elsewhere continued their studies.

“I did not intend to stop research, no,” said Rep. Butch Waddill, R-Florence. But he conceded that the way his House Bill 211 is worded, it would exclude researchers, too, as well as anyone else who might plant GM wheat.

Waddill’s proposed law would place a moratorium on the production of genetically modified wheat. The bill, if passed and signed, would expire Oct. 1, 2003. His bill has a companion resolution, HR 6, which calls for a study of the impacts of GM wheat on Montana’s economy and the liability associated with the production of it.

Waddill said his goal is to prevent Montana’s wheat, 70 percent of which is exported to the Pacific Rim, from becoming entangled in the controversy surrounding GM corn.

This week the creator of a GM corn agreed to pay millions in compensation to farmers and grain elevators across the country. That corn ended up in the food supply and prompted the recall of taco shells and other products. Estimates of the cost to Aventis CropScience range from $100 million to $1 billion.

At issue is StarLink, a GM corn. Approved for industrial use and as animal feed, it was never licensed for human consumption because of questions about whether it can cause allergic reactions.

Waddill said Montana farmers need to know exactly what the effects of GM wheat would be so that an educated decision can be made about its production and use.

He said, “I am amenable to amending the bill so that studies could continue.”

Researchers at Montana State University said the bill was a “concern” because of the exclusion in the bill which states: “A person may not plant genetically modified wheat in Montana.”

“There is no GM wheat in commercial production now,” said Luther Talbert, a professor of wheat breeding and genetics at MSU-Bozeman. He said that at first glance it was his interpretation that research would be included in the moratorium.

“That is our fear,” he said. “Breeding programs are a long-term process. There may be markets down the road and we have to be prepared to provide that for our farmers. We cannot do that overnight. A moratorium would put us at a disadvantage with other states.”

Talbert emphasized he was neither pro nor con on the bill itself but was in a quandary as to how to approach the problem.

For his part, Waddill requested Talbert’s phone number and said he would consult with the researcher in order to make the bill compatible with the continued study of GM wheat.

The bill and resolution will heard by the House Agriculture Committee on Feb. 6.

Jim Gransbery can be reached at (406) 657-1288, or by e-mail at jgransbery@billingsgazette.com
source: http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2001/01/25/build/ag/25biotekbill.php?nnn=5