Articles

The Oregon field in which a farmer found sprouts of unauthorized genetically modified wheat was never used to study altered varieties, a lawyer for the grower said on Tuesday. The farmer has "no idea" how the altered wheat made it into his 125-acre field, said Tim Bernasek, a partner at the Portland law firm Dunn Carney. The disclosures heightened the mystery that has swirled around the farm since the U.S. Department of Agriculture said last week that the strain, modified by seed giant Monsanto Co to tolerate treatments of weed killer, was found.

While regulators probe the discovery of an experimental genetically modified wheat long thought abandoned by biotech seed developer Monsanto Co, the company has a new line of field experiments on biotech wheat underway. The company is no longer pursuing the same "Roundup Ready" spring wheat it designed more than a decade ago to tolerate dousings of its Roundup weedkiller, which is the strain found in a wheat field in Oregon in April. But it is developing similar strains that are genetically altered for herbicide tolerance as well as other traits, according to the company and regulatory filings.

A U.S. wheat farmer has sued Monsanto Co , accusing the biotech seed giant of gross negligence for not containing an experimental genetically modified wheat discovered in an Oregon field that has put U.S. wheat export sales at risk. Farmer Ernest Barnes, who grows wheat in Morton County in the southwest corner of Kansas, filed suit Monday in U.S. District Court in Wichita, Kansas, alleging that he and other wheat farmers have been hurt financially by the discovery of the unapproved biotech wheat that Monsanto said it stopped testing and shelved nine years ago.

For global consumers now on high alert over a rogue strain of genetically modified wheat found in Oregon, the question is simple: How could this happen? For a cadre of critics of biotech crops, the question is different: How could it not? The questions arose after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that it was investigating the mysterious appearance of experimental, unapproved genetically engineered wheat plants on a farm in Oregon. The wheat was developed years ago by Monsanto Co to tolerate its Roundup herbicide, but the world's largest seed company scrapped the project and ended all field trials in 2004.

Monsanto Co is hosting a "Bee Summit." Bayer AG is breaking ground on a "Bee Care Center." And Sygenta AG is funding grants for research into the accelerating demise of honeybees in the United States, where the insects pollinate fruits and vegetables that make up roughly a quarter of the American diet. The agrichemical companies are taking these initiatives at a time when their best-selling pesticides are under fire from environmental and food activists who say the chemicals are killing off millions of bees. The companies say their pesticides are not the problem, but critics say science shows the opposite.

Canadian regulators have given a green light to Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co, to introduce a controversial new herbicide meant to control spreading weed resistance, Dow said on Thursday. Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA)approved "Enlist Duo" herbicide for use in Canada, making it the first country to authorize the new herbicide.

Monsanto Co, the world's largest seed company, is developing two new platforms that diverge from its core business and are seen as potential key long-term growth drivers, according to top Monsanto executives. The first, a precision planting product called "FieldScripts," is being rolled out for beta testing this year to more than 150 farmers in the U.S. Midwest.

U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for overseas lobbying that promotes controversial biotech crops developed by U.S.-based Monsanto Co and other seed makers, a report issued on Tuesday said. A review of 926 diplomatic cables of correspondence to and from the U.S. State Department and embassies in more than 100 countries found that State Department officials actively promoted the commercialization of specific biotech seeds, according to the report issued by Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer protection group.

Monsanto Co. is pushing on with plans to introduce a controversial new type of herbicide-tolerant crop, and last week's decision by the U.S. government to extend its scrutiny of the proposed new crops should not spell a significant delay, a top company official said Tuesday. U.S.-based Monsanto is setting up 20 field locations around the United States to test and market its "Xtend" soybean product at the same time that company officials said they would be working quickly to provide the U.S. Department of Agriculture with additional study data to show the product's safety. The company continues to have a goal of securing regulatory approval by 2015 or shortly after, Monsanto Chief Technology Officer Robert Fraley said in an interview.

The Department of Agriculture said Friday it will extend its scrutiny of controversial proposed biotech crops developed by Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical, and Monsanto Co. after receiving an onslaught of opposition to the companies' plans. The news frustrated Dow officials who had hoped to have secured regulatory approval and have their new herbicide-tolerant corn called "Enlist" on the market by 2013 or 2014 at the latest. But 2015 is now likely the best hope for commercialization, said Dow AgroSciences spokeswoman Kenda Resler Friend. Farmers need the new technology to better manage weeds, she said.