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Non-Approved Genetically Modified Wheat Found In Oregon Field

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Author Topic: Non-Approved Genetically Modified Wheat Found In Oregon Field  (Read 788 times)
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« on: May 29, 2013, 02:27:52 pm »

Non-Approved Genetically Modified Wheat Found In Oregon Field, Says USDA

The Agriculture Department said Wednesday that a non-approved strain of genetically engineered wheat has been discovered in an Oregon field, a potential threat to trade with other countries that have concerns about genetically modified foods.

Dr. Michael Firko of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said a farmer discovered the genetically modified plants on his farm and contacted Oregon State University, which notified USDA early this month.

There is no genetically engineered wheat currently approved for U.S. farming. USDA officials said the wheat is the same strain as a genetically modified wheat that was legally tested by seed giant Monsanto a decade ago but never approved. Monsanto stopped testing that product in Oregon and several other states in 2005.

The USDA said the genetically engineered wheat is safe to eat, but the department is investigating how it ended up in the field, whether there was any criminal wrongdoing and whether its growth is widespread.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture said the field is in Eastern Oregon. USDA officials declined to speculate whether the modified seeds blew into the field from a testing site or if they were somehow planted or taken there, and they would not identify the farmer or the farm's location.

The discovery could have far-reaching implications for the U.S. wheat industry if the growth of the engineered product turns out to be widespread. Many countries around the world will not accept imports of genetically modified foods, and organic foods sold in the United States cannot be engineered by law.

Organic companies have expressed frequent concern that genetically modified seed will blow into their farms and contaminate their products.

USDA said this is the only report it has received of a genetically engineered wheat.

"Even so, we are taking this very seriously," Firko said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/29/non-approved-genetically-modified-wheat-usda_n_3354275.html
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« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2013, 05:53:36 pm »

Quote
USDA officials said the wheat is the same strain as a genetically modified wheat that was legally tested by seed giant Monsanto a decade ago but never approved. Monsanto stopped testing that product in Oregon and several other states in 2005.

M'kay!  Roll Eyes
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« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2013, 06:28:12 am »

Found what i was looking for, i know i have this posted but cant find it, and that is starting to happen a lot. Any way this is part of Monsantos game plan, now that monsanto wheat was found on that guys farm, regardless as to how it got there. Monsanto can SUE him for using there product with out a license.

Here is a fight a Canadian couple have had.

http://thegranddisillusion.wordpress.com/monsanto-vs-farmer/

USDA to Give Monsanto’s New GMO Crops Special ‘Speed Approval’
http://endtimesandcurrentevents.freesmfhosting.com/index.php/topic,5409.msg17788.html#msg17788

The Attack on our Seeds
http://endtimesandcurrentevents.freesmfhosting.com/index.php/topic,4955.msg17259.html#msg17259

Monsanto Plans Massive Biotech Experiment In The U.S.
http://endtimesandcurrentevents.freesmfhosting.com/index.php/topic,5595.msg18606.html#msg18606

High-stakes fight over soybeans at high court
http://endtimesandcurrentevents.freesmfhosting.com/index.php/topic,8200.msg31175.html#msg31175


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« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2013, 08:46:05 am »

GMO genetic pollution alert: Genetically engineered wheat escapes experimental fields planted across 16 states

The genetic apocalypse we've been warning about for years may have already begun. The USDA just announced they found a significant amount of genetically engineered wheat growing in farm fields in Oregon. As the USDA announced yesterday, "...test results of plant samples from an Oregon farm indicate the presence of genetically engineered (GE) glyphosate-resistant wheat plants."

Why is this a big deal? Because GE wheat has never been approved for commercialization or sale. These strains of GE wheat escaped from GMO field experiments conducted across 16 states by Monsanto from 1998 to 2005. As the USDA states, "Further testing by USDA laboratories indicates the presence of the same GE glyphosate-resistant wheat variety that Monsanto was authorized to field test in 16 states from 1998 to 2005."

And that means genetic pollution is already out of control. The GE wheat for which Monsanto claims patent ownership is now invading farms that never planted GE wheat.

 
All U.S. commercially-grown wheat now suspect
There are at least five serious ramifications from this:

#1) Monsanto can now sue all the farms where GM wheat has been found growing. According to U.S. federal courts, those farmers have "stolen" Monsanto's intellectual property.

#2) The spread of GM wheat from experimental fields to wheat production fields is proof that GMOs cause genetic pollution -- self-replicating pollution with the potential to devastate global food production.

#3) All wheat produced in the United States will now be heavily scrutinized -- and possibly even rejected -- by other nations that traditionally import U.S. wheat. This obviously has enormous economic implications for U.S. farmers and agriculture.

#4) It proves the USDA cannot control the GMO field experiments it approves. Open-field experiments are not "safe" nor "controlled." They are experiments conducted in the open air, where genetic pollution is an inevitable result. The genetic pollution that began in 1998 can't be put back into the box in 2013...

#5) U.S. consumers who eat wheat products are right now almost certainly ingesting some level of genetically modified wheat. This level may currently be very small -- perhaps even less than 1% -- but it is yet another source of GMO pollution in the food supply that could hugely impact Americans' grocery shopping decisions.

 
U.S. wheat producers should be freaked out right now
Until today, Americans have been assured there are no GMOs in wheat products. They know that if you want to avoid GMOs, don't buy corn. Wheat has always been seen as a "safe haven" from genetically modified food.

But now that myth has been shattered with the USDA's announcement that they found GE wheat growing in farm fields in Oregon. If they found it in Oregon, it's probably present in the 15 other states where GE wheat was openly planted in experimental fields, too.

Don't worry about the safety of GE wheat, however. The USDA is absolutely sure it's completely safe for you. And why? Because Monsanto told the FDA it was safe!

I'm not kidding. Here's the USDA's official explanation of this non-logic:

The detection of this wheat variety does not pose a food safety concern. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completed a voluntary consultation on the safety of food and feed derived from this GE glyphosate-resistant wheat variety in 2004. For the consultation, the developer provided information to FDA to support the safety of this wheat variety. FDA completed the voluntary consultation with no further questions concerning the safety of grain and forage derived from this wheat, meaning that this variety is as safe as non-GE wheat currently on the market.

Oh, so the FDA "consulted" with Monsanto who told them their GE wheat was safe? I feel so much better already. Because Monsanto would never lie to the FDA about the safety of its GMOs.

 
USDA says it's taking the findings seriously
"We are taking this situation very seriously and have launched a formal investigation," said Michael Firko, Acting Deputy Administrator for APHIS' Biotechnology Regulatory Services, a division of the USDA.

"Our first priority is to as quickly as possible determine the circumstances and extent of the situation and how it happened. We are collaborating with state, industry, and trading partners on this situation and are committed to providing timely information about our findings. USDA will put all necessary resources towards this investigation."

Why is the USDA moving so quickly on this issue? Because they know the discovery of GE wheat growing in "the wild" puts the entire credibility of the U.S. wheat supply at risk. GMOs are banned in at least 27 countries around the world, and those countries will not likely allow genetically-contaminated wheat to be imported from the United States.

Depending on what happens next, we could be looking at a global embargo of U.S. wheat exports, meaning the U.S. wheat market would all but collapse. (This might be a good time to consider shorting some wheat futures if you're into trading commodities...)

And while this would cause a short-term flooding of cheap wheat in the U.S. market (because nobody else is buying it), the drop in price would put so many wheat farmers out of business that wheat supply would be hard hit in 2014 and beyond, and that equals long-term price increases. GMOs being found in the wheat supply, in other words, means higher food prices for all Americans.

 
My repeated warning about a genetic apocalypse
It was just yesterday that I warned in a Natural News article about the potential for GMOs to cause a runaway genetic apocalypse. "A genetic apocalypse may devastate America's bread basket," I wrote, followed by:

Mark my words: there will come a day when Americans will wish they had burned all the GM corn fields to the ground. But by then it will be too late. The blight will be upon us, and with it comes the starvation, the suffering, the desperation and the riots. Hunger turns all family men into savages, just as greed turns all corporate men into demons.

There, I was talking about corn. But apparently this was too optimistic: wheat is now being impacted, too.

In that same article, I also stated, "the U.S. government is playing Russian roulette with America's food future" -- a statement that's somewhat hilarious given that Russia won't even play Russian roulette with its own crops. GMOs are a uniquely American form of corporate arrogance and genetic pollution. Nowhere in the world is agricultural imperialism so foolish yet so strongly backed by government gone bonkers.

 
By backing GMOs, the USDA is destroying the future of U.S. agriculture
The USDA announcement all but proves these warnings to be correct: GMOs really do escape experimental fields, and they really do infect and contaminate commercial crops in North America. Those crops then become tainted and are undesirable by 90% of consumers and most developed nations around the world. By allowing GMOs to continue to be planted anywhere in North America, the U.S. government is destroying the integrity of its agricultural industries for centuries to come.

Genetic pollution may never be able to be entirely removed from wheat, corn and other GM crops. And the worst part is that this genetic contamination may make these plants highly susceptible to threats that scientists have no way to anticipate or understand. While other nations around the world have exercised caution, the U.S. government conspired with Monsanto to abandon caution and risk the entire future of America's agricultural industry on quack corporate "science" that has turned out to be a genetic pollution nightmare.

Sources for this story include:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/2013/05/ge_wheat_detection.shtml

http://farmfutures.com/story-usda-identifies-ge-glyphosate-resistant-...

http://tv.greenmedinfo.com/breaking-usda-finds-unnaproved-monsantos-g...

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/040541_GMO_genetic_pollution_GE_wheat.html#ixzz2UmddpZwH
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« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2013, 08:19:25 am »

Monsanto shares fall as South Korea joins pause in wheat imports

Investors drove down the price of Monsanto shares by 4 percent on Friday as South Korea joined Japan in suspending imports of U.S. wheat after an unapproved strain of genetically modified wheat was discovered in a field in eastern Oregon.

The strain of wheat, designed to resist harmful effects from Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller, was never commercially developed by the St. Louis-based agriculture giant in large part because wheat growers did not want to risk retaliation from their biggest export markets.

Fields used to test new crop varieties are burned and checked for surviving crops. So the mysterious appearance of the Monsanto wheat has raised questions about how the strain traveled there and whether it is lurking in the commercial wheat crop.

As a precaution, South Korea, which last year bought about half of its wheat imports from the United States, said it would halt purchases while it runs tests this weekend on wheat and flour that it has already imported. The European Union is also testing supplies.

“This is an embarrassment for Monsanto, not as much with the public as it is with food companies, ” said Gene Grabowski, executive vice president of Levick, a communications and public relations firm. Grabowski, a former senior executive at the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said cereal and other food product firms selling in Japan or Europe haven’t wanted to go to the expense of making sure their wheat sources were free of genetic engineering.

“I was in board meetings where I remember food company CEOs who were very concerned about the idea that Monsanto was pushing for approval for biotech wheat,” he said. “They didn’t want it because they already had their hands full dealing with repercussions of biotech corn and soy.”

But Monsanto, which is still testing strains of gene-altered wheat in Hawaii and North Dakota, relies heavily on genetically modified (GM) seeds that make up anywhere from 80 percent to more than 90 percent of U.S. corn, soybean and cotton crops.

“GM technology is extremely important for Monsanto,” said Frank Mitsch, an analyst with Wells Fargo. “Fully three-quarters of company profits are coming from those three crops driven in large part by the GM technology.”

In addition to their widespread adoption in the United States, genetically modified corn and soy seeds are spreading in Latin America, especially in Brazil and Argentina, Mitsch said.

Though there have been widespread protests about genetically modified foods, many lawmakers in Congress support alteration of crops. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, in 2011 hailed the Agriculture Department’s decision to deregulate genetically modified alfalfa.

“Alfalfa was one of nearly two dozen genetically modified crops awaiting USDA evaluation and approval — a bottlenecked process that hinders growth and progress,” she said in a statement. (Stabenow received $570,515 from agribusiness political action committees in 2012; her spokesman did not return calls on Thursday or Friday.)

rest: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/monsanto-shares-fall-as-south-korea-joins-pause-in-wheat-imports/2013/05/31/5df79a3a-ca2c-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html
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« Reply #5 on: June 03, 2013, 08:42:20 am »

South Korea joins Japanese ban on U.S. wheat imports after shocking GMO contamination announcement by USDA

News about the GMO contamination of U.S. wheat crops seems to be spreading faster than the GMOs themselves. On Friday, South Korea joined Japan in announcing a halt on imports of U.S. wheat due to the USDA's recent announcement that commercial wheat grown in the USA is contaminated with Monsanto's genetically engineered wheat.

Some Americans may still not realize this, but GMOs are outlawed or shunned nearly everywhere around the world. Only in the USA have GMOs managed to avoid being labeled or outlawed -- and that's primarily due to Monsanto's financial influence over lawmakers.

Monsanto shares plummeted 4 percent on Friday following the announcement by South Korea. This is completely in line with predictions made here at Natural News, where I said earlier in the week, before Japan and South Korea announced their wheat boycotts:

All wheat produced in the United States will now be heavily scrutinized -- and possibly even rejected -- by other nations that traditionally import U.S. wheat. This obviously has enormous economic implications for U.S. farmers and agriculture.

 
How much of the U.S. wheat supply is now contaminated with GMOs?
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/040604_GMO_contamination_wheat_South_Korea.html#ixzz2VA0nb9Xt
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« Reply #6 on: June 04, 2013, 04:46:20 pm »

Kansas wheat farmer sues Monsanto over rogue wheat release

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.
 
"Monsanto has released GE (genetically engineered) wheat into the non-genetically modified wheat population," the petition states.
 
The "plaintiff has been harmed by any and all Monsanto GE wheat because it has impacted wheat exports and the price of wheat," the petition also states.
 
It is not known how widespread the unapproved wheat is, or if it has contaminated food supplies. But some buyers of U.S. wheat have backed away from purchases. South Korea and Japan immediately suspended their U.S. wheat purchases and European Union officials have said they want to test all incoming shipments and block any containing genetically modified wheat.
 
The suit does not state a specific claim for damages but says the amount in dispute exceeds $75,000.
 
More lawsuits are likely, the plaintiff's attorney said. Monsanto said the lawsuit was a "wild swing" that lacked basis.
 
"Tractor-chasing lawyers have prematurely filed suit without any evidence of fault and in advance of the crop's harvest," David Snively, Monsanto executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.
 
Monsanto said it had followed a "government-directed, rigorous, well-documented and audited" program in conducting its wheat field trials and it is likely that the presence of its biotech trait in wheat is very limited.
 
"Given the care undertaken, no legal liability exists and the company will present a vigorous defense," the Monsanto statement said.
 
The petition filed by Barnes claims Monsanto knew there was a high risk the genetically modified wheat it was testing could contaminate other varieties of wheat, and the company failed to follow proper procedures to keep the wheat contained.
 
Monsanto tested the wheat in many states, including Kansas, the top U.S. wheat-producing state, but did not disclose to farmers in those states that it was testing the controversial wheat there, the petition states.
 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced May 29 that a wheat farmer in Oregon had discovered Monsanto's experimental wheat growing on his farm.
 
The wheat was developed by Monsanto to withstand treatments of the Roundup weed killer, but the firm never commercialized the product because of widespread industry opposition. International buyers threatened to boycott U.S. wheat if the biotech wheat was introduced to the marketplace, and Monsanto said in 2004 that it would discontinue testing and efforts to commercialize the "Roundup Ready" wheat.
 
The field testing that Monsanto had been doing in many states across the country was supposed to contain the biotech wheat and keep it from contaminating conventional wheat supplies, so the discovery of the experimental Roundup Ready wheat immediately triggered harsh reactions from international buyers of U.S. wheat.
 
U.S. wheat exports, forecast this year at about $9 billion, are at further risk if unapproved wheat is found to be more widespread than the few plants in Oregon.

http://news.yahoo.com/kansas-wheat-farmer-sues-monsanto-over-rogue-wheat-155201442.html
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« Reply #7 on: June 08, 2013, 05:49:13 am »

Monsanto Hid Its GMO Wheat Where No One Would Find It: In a Field

Stephen Colbert has solved the zombie wheat mystery: After it scrapped its GMO wheat program a decade ago, Monsanto, “another defenseless multinational,” destroyed all tested material. Then, just to be sure no one would find it, “they buried that wheat in the middle of a field.”
 
For its part, Monsanto recently suggested in an Associated Press story (not the realm of satire) that GMO activists could have been behind the mysterious crop. “We’re considering all options and that’s certainly one of the options,” Robb Fraley, the company’s chief technology officer, said of the possibility of sabotage.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colbert seems to agree: “We all know Monsanto is the real victim here,” since it will likely face prosecution over the zombie wheat. Instead of holding the company accountable for the presence of the plants, Colbert says that someone should ask the wheat where it came from—“at this point it can probably talk.”
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To wit, a farmer in Kansas has filed the first lawsuit related to the incident, which seeks to recoup revenue lost due to the fact that the discovery of the unapproved plants drove down wheat prices and led export partners like Japan to cancel orders.
 
One of the farmer’s attorneys, Warren Burns, told the Associated Press, “The scope of the damage is potentially in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”

http://news.yahoo.com/monsanto-hid-gmo-wheat-where-no-one-field-184328188.html
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« Reply #8 on: July 02, 2013, 12:08:27 pm »

USDA: Modified wheat appears to be isolated

The Agriculture Department says it has no indications that genetically modified wheat found in Oregon last month has spread beyond the field in which it was found.


 Roll Eyes http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2021192256_apusgeneticallymodifiedwheat.html
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« Reply #9 on: September 22, 2013, 11:51:35 pm »

Will Monsanto Destroy Another Crop?

By Rich Duprey  | More Articles 
September 22, 2013 | Comments (37) 


The U.S. wheat industry was nearly brought to its knees after the discovery of a genetically modified strain Monsanto (NYSE: MON  ) had tested years ago was inexplicably found growing in an Oregon farmer's field. Because most of the rest of the world rejects GM wheat and the wheat from the Pacific Northwest is mostly targeted for export, the ramifications of the discovery were massive.

Now it's deja vu all over again. A Washington State farmer had his alfalfa crop rejected by a broker after it tested positive for the presence of genetic modification. The implications for this recurrence are just as profound as they were for wheat.

Several countries immediately imposed bans on the import of U.S. wheat and an investigation that's still ongoing was launched to figure out how a strain of genetically modified wheat that Monsanto said it completely destroyed except for the small amount the U.S. government supposedly has under lock and key in its vaults made it into the wild.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, alfalfa, with a value of around $8 billion, is the fourth-most widely grown field crop in the country, surpassed only by corn, wheat, and soybeans. Alfalfa hay, which the Washington farmer was selling, is a valuable export and hit a record high of $1.25 billion last year. Washington is one of the country's largest export alfalfa producers.

Like the runaway wheat strain, the tainted alfalfa was found to contain the genetic presence of the Round-Up Ready trait. That's the powerful and deadly herbicide that kills any plant life its sprayed on unless Monsanto has rejiggered its genetic code to withstand its onslaught. You can spray the herbicide on Round-Up Ready seed all day long, and it will still grow because of its genetic modification.

The only difference between alfalfa incident and the wheat one earlier this year is the U.S. government permits farmers to grow genetically modified alfalfa; it prohibits GM wheat from being grown because of the global opposition to it.

And that highlights one of the biggest risks opponents of GM foods have pointed out: once you start growing a genetically modified crop, you can't protect non-GM fields from being contaminated. One farmer can grow GM alfalfa -- or corn or soybeans -- and another across the road can choose not to, but wind and bees can can cause the fields to be cross-pollinated, and the non-GM farmer is left without recourse.

The episode raises some far-reaching fears. Farmers now are at risk if they practice the time-honored tradition of seed saving, and not just here, but all around the globe. DuPont (NYSE: DD  ) just acquired South Africa's largest seed company that owns a large storehouse of maize germplasm, one of the most important crops on the continent where Monsanto already owns 50% of the market. Once they start accepting GM seed, they'll quickly learn they're no longer allowed to save it as the chemical giants own the food chain.

Not only should alfalfa farmers be worried because many countries including China don't allow any imports of GM crops, but alfalfa hay might not be able to be fed to domestic livestock because the introduction of GM contaminants can ruin their sales. And no just of beef, but organic dairy and other animal-based products. Monsanto says all is well as other importers like United Arab Emirates, have no restrictions on genetically modified crops and negotiations are under way with China too.

Once again the livelihood of farmers is being threatened by the pursuit of Monsanto to expand its reach over agriculture. We continue to be assured there's no harm to come from eating GM food,s but we are continuously reminded why such foods need to be labeled at a minimum.

As this looks like it's going to become a recurring nightmare for our nations farmers, let's all take bets on which crop will be next to threaten their futures and put the country's economy at risk, all for Monsanto and the biotech industry's benefit.

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« Reply #10 on: September 23, 2013, 03:33:52 am »

It amazes me how this wicked giant of a company is getting away with this. I mean they are totally out of control. How can anybody not see what they are up to? Just amazing.
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