TWIN FALLS, Idaho - Consumer concerns about the safety of eating bread made from genetically modified wheat mothballed research headed in that direction, but when world wide wheat stocks reached near record lows and bread prices shot up, consumers reconsidered the prospect. As a result, public and private researchers are once again exploring the possibilities.
Biotechnology was one of the primary topics at a wheat summit held in Kansas. The summit included breeders and, for the first time, representatives from Canada and Australia.
Darren Coppock, head of the National Association of Wheat Growers, said wheat growers won't see a sudden shift in research priorities, but will see more discussions with end users about what traits may be developed and how consumers will benefit.
"We want this to be an inclusive process," Coppock said in a press conference call following the Wheat Summit. By seeking input from end users, foreign buyers and others, wheat growers hope to reach win-win solutions early. "We have the luxury of a little time."
Breeders have indicated that from the day they start developing a biotech trait for wheat, it will take at least 10 years to have that trait commercially available. And that 10-year clock has not yet started ticking, Coppock said.
Maintaining two streams of wheat for buyers - a conventional channel and a non-genetically modified strain that meets commercial tolerance for residue - will be critical, he added. U.S. Wheat Associates has taken on the challenge of determining market acceptance and tolerance levels for residue among foreign buyers.
Wheat acres in the U.S. have steadily dropped over the last 30 years and that trend is not expected to change. That makes increasing wheat yields on the remaining acres to meet world wheat demand even more challenging and that's why the first biotech traits developed are likely to be production related. "How do we feed a doubled world population by 2050 without new technology," he asked.
Stress tolerance - specifically drought tolerance - was the number one priority in an informal poll of farmers, millers and bakers.
Richard Phillips, head of an organization that represents 80,000 grain growers in Canada, said restarting the process with the three largest wheat exporters - the U.S., Canada and Australia - working together will also pave the way for market acceptance. He remembers when genetically engineered canola was first released and Australia decided not to grow the GM canola in hopes of capturing a market premium, but quickly found out that strategy wouldn't pay.
"We will all have the same message: ten years from now we will have genetically modified wheat in the export market," Phillips said.
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