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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Monsanto breaks ground on plant-breeding centre

GM canola will be available to farmers far sooner

By: Murray McNeill

28/07/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 3

(From left) Danie Theunissen, Alan Simms, president of U of M’s Smartpark, JoAnne Buth, Conservation Minister Stan Struthers and Ryan Baldwin participate in a sod turning at the site of the new Monsanto Canada breeding centre. (TREVOR.HAGAN@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

MONSANTO Canada broke ground Monday on a new state-of-the art plant breeding centre that will get new types of genetically modified canola into farmers' hands sooner than otherwise would have been possible.

The new $12-million facility, which will be built next door to Monsanto's Canadian headquarters at the University of Manitoba's Smartpark, will be the new ground zero in the company's ongoing quest to develop new genetically-modified canola products for the world's grain growers.

First up on the product-development list is a new generation of herbicide-resistant (Roundup Ready), higher-yielding canola, Monsanto officials said in interviews following Monday's ground-breaking ceremony.

That will likely be followed by canola products with other farmer-friendly traits, including a resistance to drought and an ability to use nitrogen (fertilizer) more efficiently.

Monsanto public affairs director Trish Jordan and Seed and Traits Lead Ryan Baldwin said the company hopes to have the Roundup Ready, higher-yielding canola ready within five or six years. The other genetically modified variations could be ready in as little as five years after that.

"What this is going to allow us to do is really ramp up the breeding," Baldwin said, although he and Jordan were reluctant to speculate on how much it will speed up the product-development process.

Danie Theunissen, Monsanto's spring canola breeding lead, said it used to take 10 to 12 years to develop a new plant product. But new technological advances have enabled researchers to reduce that to five to eight years. And that's good news for both farmers and companies like Monsanto.

"It's all about having the right product in the market at the right time," he added.

Several farmer representatives were on hand for Monday's ground-breaking ceremony, and said they look forward to seeing the new facility fully operational by late next year.

Rolf Penner, Manitoba vice-president of the Western Canadian Grain Growers Association, said he grows a lot of canola on his Morris-area farm and fertilizer is one of his most expensive crop inputs.

"If they can breed a crop that uses less nitrogen or uses it more efficiently, that would have a huge effect on my bottom line," he said.

Penner said some Manitoba farmers could also benefit from the development of a more drought-resistant canola product, although that might be hard for some to imagine after all the rain Manitoba has seen this year.

Canola Council of Canada president JoAnne Buth said canola, which was only developed in Manitoba in the 1970s, has evolved into one of Canada's leading crops.

"We must keep investing in this crop, and I think that's what Monsanto is doing here today," Buth said. "Our entire industry will benefit from this."

Jordan said two other Canadian cities -- Calgary and Saskatoon -- were also considered as sights for the new breeding centre. Monsanto Canada officials were able to convince its U.S.-based parent that Winnipeg was the best site. "We fought pretty hard to have it here," Jordan said. "It's a good fit for us here because the grain industry is here and a lot of our customers are here."

Baldwin said there are also benefits to having the new breeding centre next door to Monsanto's Canadian headquarters.

"(It) will also allow us to increase synergies between the breeding, product development, supply and commercial aspects of our business to ensure we deliver on the pipeline of new, beneficial crop technologies for our farm customers," he said.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 28, 2009 B4

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3 Comments

Posted by: Kingsnoofer

July 28, 2009 at 12:05 PM

It's interesting how this article only mentions how wonderous the Monsanto contribution will be. But it slyly "omits" the terrifying factor of the Terminator Gene they are going to/are breed into their seeds. This gene will render the resulting crop seeds sterile and useless so farmers must purchase ALL new seed the following year. Many farmers rely on the reseeding capability of their crops, both financially and ethically. So the agricultural community will become dependent on the Monsanto empire for continued crops.

Oddly that's not the most terrifying aspect. If pollen containing this gene crosses any other crop nearby via wind, insect, or bird, it could combine and pass it's termination properties to that innocent crop. Imagine a line of dominoes representing all the agricultural regions of the world, falling one-by-one, unable to reseed all of a sudden. What about all the wild flora? Can it be infected too? I know I am making a doomsday proclamation here. But we all have to consider this. Sure in the short term we could see stronger, higher yielding crops, more resistance to disease and drought. But if thinking people can look into the future and possibly see a barren wasteland, full of dead and dying plant life, we have to act and stop this domination.

It IS domination. Imagine the gargantuan monopoly Monsanto will have on all agriculture. As a society we are constantly complaining about monopolies. Why let another take root?

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Posted by: wayner

July 28, 2009 at 11:23 AM

The ignorance of the urban population in these matters astounds me.
What makes you think that crops that aren`t tolerant to Roundup either aren`t being sprayed, or aren`t being sprayed with even more toxic chemicals? Herbicides have been used for decades before Roundup came along.
As a farmer, before Roundup canola came along, I had to use 3 different chemicals in combination in order to successfully grow a canola crop, and all 3 are definitely more toxic to humans. You may want to compare the toxicity level of Roundup verses the other stuff you use on your lawn.
And don`t think that organic farming is the answer - many of the practices these guys use for weed control lead to severe environmental consequences, primarily soil erosion and much higher fossil fuel usage, not to mention substantially reduced productivity in a food hungry world. The advent of Roundup has enabled farmers to farm more sustainably, by reducing practices such as intensive tillage which in the past have resulted in millions of acres being rendered unfit for crop production.

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Posted by: whatsworldcoming2

July 28, 2009 at 8:52 AM

A 2008 scientific study has shown that Roundup formulations and metabolic products cause the death of human embryonic, placental, and umbilical cells in vitro even at low concentrations. The effects were not proportional to the main active ingredient concentrations (glyphosate) but dependent on the nature of the adjuvants used in the Roundup formulation.[11]

this is from wikipedia. Roundup is the stuff you spray on your driveway to completely kill weeds grass anything.

so why would we want out canola or other plants to withstand this toxic chemical, so we can ingest it and maybe have roundup ready babys? (I guess thats assuming we can still have babies after exposure to this).