“Preserve South Australia’s GM free status” North American farmers warn of GM crops risk

As Australian farmers prepare to plant this year’s canola crop, the North Americans are speaking at forums across key canola growing regions in  South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.

South Australia, one of the two largest exporters of canola, still enjoys GM free status.  However, neighbouring states of New South Wales and Victoria grew small quantities of GM canola commercially for the first time last year, threatening South Australia’s GM free markets.

Ross Murray, a farmer from Saskatchewan, Canada, grew GM Roundup Ready canola for some years. He found that it failed to deliver industry promises.

Mr Murray says, “GM canola doesn’t stack up- it yields less than conventional canola and costs more to grow. Because of its herbicide resistence, GM canola has become a weed in itself, creating weed management problems. Segregation has proved impossible in Canada and now farmers have no choice.  Non-GM canola has been eliminated by genetic contamination.”

In Canada, 90% of non-GM certified canola seed is contaminated with GM material. (1)

Ross’s experiences are consistent with results from 2008 independent trials of GM canola in Australia. In the Grains Research and Development Corporations’ (GRDC) National Variety Trials, the best yielding GM canola variety consistently produced 9-10% less than the best yielding conventional variety (2).

The introduction of GM crops in North America has also resulted in increased corporate control of farming practices. In the United States, the biotechnology company Monsanto has sued thousands of farmers for patent infringement, most of whom have had to settle out of court.   

In 2007 Moe Parr, a seed cleaner from Indiana was sued by Monsanto for allegedly “aiding”, “abetting” and “encouraging” GM soy farmers to break the patent law by saving seed.  Moe was unable to afford the legal fees to defend himself and was forced to settle out of court. As part of the settlement, Mr Parr now has to have each lot of seed he cleans tested for GM contamination and send the results to Monsanto.  

 “In effect I have become an unpaid enforcement officer for Monsanto,” says Mr Parr. “Because of GM contamination and the monopoly control of seeds by bio tech companies, in the United States it is nearly impossible to go back. Farmers in Australia are fortunate that they still have a choice about whether to go down the GM path or not.”  

A number of states in the US have introduced laws to protect farmers from legal action by Monsanto. In September 2008 the state of California passed legislation protecting farmers from being sued by biotechnology companies for accidental GM contamination. (3)

Geoffrey Carracher from the Network of Concerned Farmers says, “We are calling on the State and Federal Governments to preserve the GM free status of South Australia and protect the livelihoods of farmers in the state. Strict liability legislation is needed to protect farmers from any economic losses caused by cross-border contamination.“

Details of the SA forums can be found at: http://www.truefood.org.au/newsandevents/?events=3