Genetically modified corn has caused storage delays at area grain elevators

Starlink Bt corn awaits further testing, government approval before human consumption allowed

CARMEN MCCOLLUM  / Times (Munster, IN) 29nov00

Hebron farmer and businessman Michael Aylesworth perches atop a grain trailer he is loading with corn. (Jerome Lee / The Times)

A Porter County farmer and businessman contends that farmers and consumers alike need to be aware of the Starlink Bt corn that was pulled off the market recently.

The discovery of the Starlink Bt corn in the U.S. food supply also has slowed traffic at area grain elevators, causing a backup in storage for area farmers, according to Michael Aylesworth, who owns a farm in Hebron. (Aylesworth is also the President of the Indiana Corn Growers Association.)

Aylesworth said he doesn't believe there are serious problems with the genetically engineered grain, but he doesn't think humans should consume it until further testing and government approval.

Starlink Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), a product engineered by Aventis to be toxic to insect pests, has been approved for animal consumption but not for human consumption.

However, it was discovered in corn bread and taco shells, creating a furor in the United States where experts said there's a chance Starlink Bt corn can cause allergic reactions in humans.

Aventis CropScience, the agrochemical division of Aventis SA of Strasbourg, France, subsequently pulled the product off the market. The company said it would buy back any remaining grain from farmers. Aventis also has talked about selling off that division and concentrating on its pharmaceuticals. "This corn found its way into the human food chain," Aylesworth said. "It's been happening primarily on the east coast and in Iowa, but there's also been some Starlink corn found in Indiana and Illinois."

Local corn storage backed up

This concern has caused grain-elevator operators to set up procedures to distinguish among the corn varieties. It's practically impossible for grain elevators to separate corn that comes into its terminals, so they have spent thousands of dollars setting up testing equipment.

"It caused a backup in farmers being able to dump their corn," Aylesworth said. "It's been really slow, and corn is backed up at the farm because it takes time to do the testing. This happened right around harvest time so corn that we expected to be able to get rid of, we couldn't because they were busy testing each load that came in."

Lloyd Good, vice president administration for Cerestar USA in Hammond, said it conducts a test strip on every truck that comes into the terminal.

"If it comes back positive, we don't take the truck," he said. "It's been very minimal here. We started this program about three weeks ago, and we test daily."

For every 400 kernels, if one is positive, that load is turned away, Good said. "It's difficult to detect and impossible to segregate," he said.

Starlink Bt corn is redirected to other terminals slated for industrial use or animal feed.

Pat McEniry, a Cargill grain trader at Burns Harbor elevator, said there's only a small portion of the stuff in Northwest Indiana, but it did create some logistical problems.

"It puts the farmer in a pinch in terms of what to do with all that corn at harvest time when there's so little storage space available," he said. "Most of our grain is exported out of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Gulf of Mexico, and since that grain was not qualified for export, we couldn't accept it."

The United States Agriculture Department said earlier this month there's been a steady drop in exports of corn as a result of the Starlink problem.

Net sales of corn to Japan, the biggest corn customer, dropped. For the week ending Nov. 9, Japan bought 150,000 tons, less than half its normal amount.

Problem could grow

"It could be a big problem," farmer Aylesworth said. "We can't guarantee that Starlink is not mixed in with food products that have been exported there."

As a result, corn prices on the Chicago Board of Trade saw some declines around October. Corn futures fell about 15 cents during that period, said Walt Breitinger, A.G. Edwards commodities broker.

"There's still a negative hanging over the market, and it has shifted or delayed exports ever since mid-October," he said. "We're thinking the Starlink factor will force USDA to revise its export projections. It's definitely hurting the market and disrupting shipments to Japan. There have been lots of cancellations and delays."

Japan has laws against genetically modified corn for any purpose -- human or animal consumption. "USDA guaranteed to Japan that if they bought corn from the United States, they would personally guarantee that it wasn't tainted, and that got exports moving a little bit," Breitinger said.

"But the truth is that the United States is both the biggest producer and exporter of corn. We're about the only place they can get it. They will have to change their laws or their attitudes. Right now, they've agreed to take corn for human consumption as long as it's not tainted, but the two countries are still negotiating about the animal feed."

Good said the Starlink Bt controversy may scare a few people away from genetically modified products.

"It's a setback for biotechnology but I think it's short-term," he said. "When the whole issue is resolved, I think Starlink Bt will re-emerge but it will be done with more scrutiny by governmental agencies. People will be a lot more cautious."

Further scrutiny pending

While Cerestar has been disappointed that Aventis didn't go through the proper channels, no one could have envisioned what happened, Good said. "But you have to fault the government agencies as well for dropping the ball on this," he said.

Angela Dansby, spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based American Seed Trade Association, said the USDA and seed companies have been responsible in trying to buy back the corn and make sure it's been directed for approved uses.

"The government and seed industry have done everything possible to prevent this from entering the food chain, but you can't guarantee that it won't show up again, simply because of the nature of seeds being a living organism and growing in an open environment," she said.

"In terms of food consumption, it's not a human safety issue, it's an issue of regulatory compliance," she said. "Even the EPA has acknowledged that Starlink corn poses little injury to human health. It's just that this particular variety has not been approved yet for human use. It's a legal issue and of course, we'll abide by the law."

Carmen McCollum can be reached at carmenm@howpubs.com  or (219) 462-5151, ext. 346.