Monsanto Responds

Monsanto Responds. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

The finding of a small amount of genetically modified Monsanto wheat in an Oregon wheat field 2 weeks ago is still under investigation. Rob Fraley, Chief Technology Officer for Monsanto held a press conference to give us an update from their perspective.

FRALEY: All of the information to date confirms that this incident relates only to a single field, on a single farm in Oregon. Second, the CP4 event in wheat has been recognized as safe by the FDA and the USDA has repeatedly stated that there’s no public health or food safety concern. Importantly, there’s no indication that the CP4 event is present in either commercial seed or in grain.

Fraley says there has been extensive testing done and they have determined that there is no other seed located anywhere else.

FRALEY: This is vitally important information for area wheat growers that are now gearing up for harvest in the next couple of weeks. And this data should also provide confidence to grain handlers in the area and foreign market buyers as well as seed suppliers in the region.

He says that all agencies involved did exactly what they should do in this kind of situation.

FRALEY: Our regulatory system is working and we have worked hard to address the first question of whether the event is in commerce. And the answer is no.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.