ANTI-GM groups say a $30-$50 a tonne premium for conventional canola is proof the world doesn’t want genetically modified grain. However, marketers say the price difference is simply due to international market forces. Bulk handler and marketer CBH reported a non-GM premium of up to $50 a tonne, while prices from GrainCorp show a premium of about $40.

The debate over genetically modified seed contamination has reignited, with floods spreading GM canola onto a non GM property. [...] In January flooding rains washed part of the GM canola crop, over the boundary fence, into Bob Mackley’s paddock. ”Well I’ve got here a stubble left over from last year’s wheat crop, but it’s had a lot of water flow through it after a rain event in January.

NILLUMBIK Shire council is considering banning genetically-modified crops, following a surge in public support for GM-free status. Council officers will investigate the merits of the shire becoming GM-free and how it may effect local producers and the economy. [...] Several Victorian councils have already been declared GM-free, including Yarra Ranges, Bendigo and South Gippsland.

A group supporting genetically-modified food says the loss of much of Queensland’s banana crop in Cyclone Yasi points to an example of how GM foods could improve food security in Australia. The Producers Forum [...] member Jeff Bidstrup says [...] ”Whether it’s bananas, wheat, sorghum or canola - all those things are around the corner where we’re able to actually modify the characteristics of the plants so we can grow them under different climates.”

The Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics’ first patent application has been accepted for grant in Eurasia. The patent covers salinity tolerance in plants and applies in Turkmenistan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and the Moldova regions. [...] ’Gene patents are currently controversial but they are an important tool in biological sciences,’ Mr Gilbert said. [...] ’Patents are an asset that we can use to deal with large multi-national companies in the area of agricultural biotechnology,’ he said.

The bigger cities grow, the more insular they become. This truism is ever so apparent in the recent rekindling of debate about the production of genetically modified foods and crops. Urban communities are becoming so disconnected with how food is actually produced that conventional farming faces growing problems of public perception and trust. This is not helped by the constant, ideologically driven doubt-mongering about GM technology by professional activists, such as Greenpeace, which undermines public confidence in the science that underpins our modern, efficient and sustainable food production system.

Biotechnology giant Monsanto says it won’t financially support any legal action in the case of GM contamination of an organic farm in Western Australia. [...] Keryn McLean, from Monsanto,says the company won’t be offering any legal support to the neighbour, nor will it be pursuing the organic farmer.

RESTAURANTS and fast food outlets will be forced to declare any foods that contain genetically modified ingredients in a recommendation made by a national review of food labelling, the Opposition’s agriculture spokesman Mick Murray said on Friday. [...] Mr Murray said the Independent Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy had recommended all food and ingredients that had been genetically modified be labelled, including food sold at chain food service outlets and in vending machines. ”Clear labelling will give consumers the right to choose between GM and non-GM products,” he said.

A professor of law says Australia’s top legal and political minds are taking a strong interest in legal action arising from genetically modified contamination of an organic farm in Western Australia. [...] Mr Marsh has begun legal action but as there’s never been a case like this in Australia, exactly how it proceeds could be the subject of scrutiny and debate.

THE country’s biggest genetically modified (GM) canola crop was harvested in Bodallin, in the eastern Wheatbelt, this summer. Farm entrepreneur and machinery man Michael Shields and his team have broken canola coverage records with 8500 hectares planted at Bodallin and 4500 hectares on their home block Glenvar at Wongan Hills. This is the first time WA farmers were allowed to grow GM canola since it was legalised in February last year.