GMO Wheat Education is Key

HB4 wheat is an exciting new opportunity that brings advanced technology to us wheat growers. This GMO wheat is being developed for drought tolerance. Ryan Olson, the new director of trade policy for US Wheat Associates, explains the importance of educating international buyers about this innovation.

“With all new opportunities and all new technologies, there needs to be outreach to our customers to make sure that they're comfortable they are. They understand both what the technology is and the steps that will be taken to commercialize it, moving it from integration to field trials to eventually getting it out to seed dealers and sellers. So we'll be doing the best we can to both work domestically with our partners to understand that process, and then being kind of a face with the foreign customers to explain that make sure that they're comfortable.”

With biotechnology comes the need for trust in the marketplace. According to Olsen,

“We've been working in some markets for decades now our Taiwan 60th anniversary is coming up, so we have a strong track record of personal relationships with some of these customers. So we built that trust. We certainly don't want to lose it, and with that trust comes responsibility and and so I hope we can have those frank conversations with stakeholders and make sure that they're comfortable with what US growers want to plant and want to bring to market.”

Ryan Olson with US Wheat Associates.