Farmers rally to protest genetic rice/More on Monsanto and Illinois

[Guest guest]

GMW: Farmers rally to protest genetic rice/More on Monsanto

and Illinois

" GM WATCH " <info

 

 

Mon, 25 Apr 2005 14:25:14 +0100

 

 

 

 

GM WATCH

http://www.gmwatch.org

------

EXCERPTS:

 

" We are trying to get legislation together to keep genetically modified

rice out of Missouri. " - Riceland Vice President Bill Reed

 

" We're pleased that they're moving 120 miles from us. We'd have been

more pleased if it was 1,000 miles. " - Sonny Martin, a Bernie rice farmer

and chairman of the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council.

 

" the market realities that have been presented to me by Riceland

Foods, Anheuser-Busch, my rice producers, lenders and suppliers

dictate that

I must oppose the production of genetically modified rice in Southeast

Missouri in crop year 2005. " - U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson of Cape

Girardeau, who has previously been a strong supporter of such projects.

 

" We wonder why rice producers weren't involved in the discussions or

negotiations. Nobody included us in any of this, and that was

disappointing. " - U.S. Rice Producers Association President Chris Williams.

 

[taken from item 1: Opposition KOs planned plot at Chaffee: Area

farmers rally to protest genetic rice.]

 

Monsanto's reach has allowed it to implement double-digit price hikes

for seeds carrying its technology, actions that have angered farmers.

 

" It has been a sore spot over the years that US farmers have to pay

what they do, " said Illinois Corn Growers spokesman Mark Lambert. " It is

an issue. "

 

Indeed, last year Basel, Switzerland-based Syngenta, the world's

biggest agrochemical company, filed a lawsuit accusing Monsanto of using

coercive tactics and unfair bundling arrangements since the 1990s to

exercise monopolistic power in multiple markets.

 

Meanwhile, Monsanto has continued to expand its dominance of the US

seed industry, making a series of acquisitions over the last several

months.

 

[taken from item 2: Illinois Attorney General Probes Monsanto Pricing]

------

1.Opposition KOs planned plot at Chaffee: Area farmers rally to protest

genetic rice

by David Silverberg

Daily American Republic, 22 April 2005

 

Opposition to the proposed production of genetically modified rice near

Chaffee was expressed by Southeast Missouri rice farmers to state

legislators during a Saturday morning rally at Curtis Worley's farm

southeast of Poplar Bluff.

 

" We want to stop it for fear of contamination to our rice, " said

Worley, who also is concerned about potential economic losses because of

concerns expressed by two large purchasers of Southeast Missouri rice.

 

State Sen. Rob Mayer, Speaker of the House Rod Jetton and Reps. Gayle

Kingery and Mike Dethrow were among legislators who participated in the

rally at Worley's farm. Mayer informed the farmers that Ventria

Bioscience, which is moving from California to Missouri, has agreed to

not

grow genetically modified rice in Southeast Missouri.

 

" I am pleased the project is not going forward in Southeast Missouri

because of the risk of losing our markets, " Mayer said. But he added that

" genetically modified seeds hold promise for mankind and increased

income for farmers. We need to continue to explore genetically modified

seeds. "

 

Riceland Vice President Bill Reed also spoke at Worley's farm and said

he was glad the project is not going forward in Southeast Missouri.

 

" We are trying to get legislation together to keep genetically modified

rice out of Missouri, " Worley said. " We had a good turnout and it was a

good meeting. "

 

Anheuser-Busch Co. of St. Louis and Riceland Foods of Stuttgart, Ark.,

had urged federal regulators to deny a permit requested by Ventria to

grow 150 acres of genetically modified rice on David Herbst's farm in

order to produce human proteins used in drugs.

 

Herbst maintained the project was worthwhile and that contamination

could be controlled. He said biopharming could have opened up new markets

for rice.

 

Riceland Foods, the world's largest rice miller and marketer, is

concerned its customers don't want to risk buying genetically modified

rice.

Anheuser-Busch, the nation's No. 1 buyer of rice and the largest

brewer, said it would not buy Missouri rice if genetically modified,

drug-making crops are allowed to be grown in the state.

 

According to the Associated Press, Anheuser-Busch dropped its threat to

boycott Missouri's rice crop after Ventria agreed Friday to grow its

genetically engineered rice at least 120 miles away from commercial rice

farms in Southeast Missouri.

 

" I am pleased that Anheuser Busch and Ventria have reached a fair

compromise that further cutting-edge life-sciences technology while

protecting current markets for Missouri rice farmers, " Gov. Matt Blunt

said in

a press release Friday.

 

The agreement was brokered by Blunt and U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo.

 

" I am very proud that friends have come together in good faith and

reached an agreement that addresses all concerns while permitting this

critical technology to find a welcome home here in Missouri, " Bond

said in

a press release Friday.

 

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson of Cape Girardeau, who has been a strong

supporter of new technologies for value-added agricultural products,

sent a

letter to Blunt earlier Friday.

 

" However, the market realities that have been presented to me by

Riceland Foods, Anheuser-Busch, my rice producers, lenders and suppliers

dictate that I must oppose the production of genetically modified rice in

Southeast Missouri in crop year 2005, " Emerson said.

 

The Missouri Farm Bureau supports Ventria, which is moving to Northwest

Missouri State University to be the anchor tenant of a new center for

plant-made pharmaceuticals.

 

Ventria's president, Scott Deeter, has said fears of contamination are

overblown because the company intends to use " a totally closed system

of production " with a plant that pollinates itself. He also said the

rice could be engineered to produce proteins that have the potential to

address health issues like severe dehydration due to diarrhea, which

kills more than 1.3 million children under the age of 5 annually

worldwide.

 

Mayer said Missouri Department of Agriculture Director Fred Ferrell is

working with Ventria to select a producer near Lamar north of Joplin to

grow genetically modified rice.

 

U.S. Rice Producers Association President Chris Williams, a Poplar

Bluff rice farmer, told the Southeast Missourian the agreement is a

positive development, but he still has concerns.

 

" We wonder why rice producers weren't involved in the discussions or

negotiations. Nobody included us in any of this, and that was

disappointing, " said Williams, who hopes other big buyers like

Riceland, Gerber

and Kellogg will continue to buy Missouri rice.

 

" We're pleased that they're moving120 miles from us. We'd have been

more pleased if it was 1,000 miles, " said Sonny Martin, a Bernie rice

farmer who is chairman of the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising

Council.

 

Herbst is glad Ventria is staying in Missouri.

 

" This is a tremendous victory for the future of agriculture in

Missouri, " Herbst said.

------

2.Illinois Attorney General Probes Monsanto Pricing

by Carey Gillam

Reuters, 21 April 2005

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Monsanto Co.'s role in the US biotech seed business

is the subject of scrutiny by the Illinois Attorney General's office,

the agrochemical company said Wednesday.

 

Monsanto issued a statement saying it was cooperating with a subpoena

seeking information on pricing and licensing of its genetically modified

seeds. The company defended its market activities, which have been the

subject of rising complaint as its market influence has grown.

 

" We firmly believe that Monsanto has and continues to compete fairly in

establishing the value our innovations are bringing to our seed

customers and to farmers, " General Counsel Charles W. Burson said in a

statement.

 

The St. Louis-based company controls 100 percent of the market for

certain specialized soybean and corn seeds that have been genetically

modified to help farmers fight weeds, along with more than 80 percent

of the

market for a corn that resists destructive insects. In all, Monsanto

corn and beans strains are planted annually on more than 70 million acres

of US farmland.

 

Monsanto's reach has allowed it to implement double-digit price hikes

for seeds carrying its technology, actions that have angered farmers.

 

" It has been a sore spot over the years that US farmers have to pay

what they do, " said Illinois Corn Growers spokesman Mark Lambert. " It is

an issue. "

 

Indeed, last year Basel, Switzerland-based Syngenta, the world's

biggest agrochemical company, filed a lawsuit accusing Monsanto of using

coercive tactics and unfair bundling arrangements since the 1990s to

exercise monopolistic power in multiple markets.

 

Meanwhile, Monsanto has continued to expand its dominance of the US

seed industry, making a series of acquisitions over the last several

months.

 

Melissa Merz, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's office, said she

could not discuss the subpoena or what prompted it.

 

Monsanto shares were down 9 cents at $59.41 in midday New York Stock

Exchange trade.

 

 

 

------------------------