The Greens says Western Australian canola crops need to be protected from contamination as international demand plummets for genetically modified crops. This week it was revealed CBH is paying up to $45 a tonne less for GM canola than its organic counterpart. The markdown has prompted the Australian Wheat Board to offer to buy GM canola at a guaranteed price of only $10 a tonne less than non-GM canola. Ten per cent of WA’s canola crop is now GM and Greens’ Senator Rachel Siewert says there needs to be liability insurance for farmers at risk of GM crop contamination.

GLOBAL grain buyers are marking down the price of Australia’s genetically modified canola as the European market shuts the gate on GM crops. The Australian Wheat Board is offering to buy up supplies of GM canola at guaranteed prices. Global agribusiness giant Monsanto -- which produces ”Round-up Ready” canola, genetically modified to survive sprayings by its trademarked weed killer -- has told GM canola farmers they will lose no more than $10 a tonne for product delivered to agricultural company Cargill’s crush facility at Newcastle by June 29.

South Australian Farmers Federation president Peter White said yesterday the only issue with GM technology in SA was the timing of its introduction. ”Worldwide, it is the fastest-growing new technology in the history of agriculture,” Mr White said. ”If we are going to feed nine billion people we don’t have much choice and the decision will be driven by economics and agronomic advantages.” His comments come as the GM-Free Australia Alliance meets in Adelaide with a panel of GM-free supporters and Senator Nick Xenophon holding a public forum tonight to push their case to maintain SA’s GM-free status.

COMMON law rights and the ability of Australian farmers to protect their crops from genetically modified contamination will be tested in a landmark case lodged in the WA Supreme Court. A writ was lodged in the WA Supreme Court on Tuesday on behalf of Kojonup farmer Stephen Marsh to test the common law rights of property owners to recover losses as a result of GM contamination on their land and their rights to prevent future contamination. The legal action was taken after 70 per cent of Mr Marsh’s farm was stripped of its organic certification in 2010.

SAFETY concerns about genetically modified foods have become a state election issue with an anti-GM campaigner announcing she will challenge Food and Agriculture Minister Terry Redman in the Warren-Blackwood electorate. Julie Newman, who has a farm near Margaret River and was a member of a parliamentary advisory committee under former Labor Food and Agriculture Minister Kim Chance, has said she will stand as an independent candidate against Mr Redman next year.

TWO Greenpeace activists involved in the action that destroyed Genetically Modified wheat trials in Canberra last year have pleaded guilty to property damage charges. [...] The actions caused about $300,000 damage while stifling important research into the highly valued plant technology. The case was previously adjourned three times but on Monday in the ACT Magistrates Court, the two activists pleaded guilty to the charges of destroying Commonwealth property. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ jail.

A new type of wheat bred with a gene that removes sodium from water can outgrow conventional strains by up to 25% in salty soils, Australian scientists have found. The breakthrough by a team from CSIRO and the University of Adelaide was achieved with non-genetically modified crop breeding techniques, and could be an important asset for farmers worldwide as they cope with the effect of climate change on soil salinity. Scientists from CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra identified the gene, from an ancient strain of wheat, more than 15 years ago

Director of the WA Agricultural Biotechnology Centre at Murdoch University in Perth, Professor Mike Jones said the CRIIGEN website “proudly” displayed Professor Seralini’s [International Biographical Centre] certificate, despite the State government’s consumer protection warning. “You really have to wonder about his scientific credentials if he can be fooled by this scam but perhaps someone else nominated him,” he said. [...] Professor Jones succeeded in throwing doubt onto some of the points made during the talk. But the French Professor also conveyed a strong message regarding the relatively short time-frame for testing and scientific discovery for GM foods, compared to the regulatory approval processes required for drugs.

FLOUR made from genetically modified wheat and barley may be trialled on humans. The human testing will be done under a program approved by the Office of Gene Technology Regulator. But first, the GM product would be trialled on animals to see if it improves bowel health. [...] The grain varieties have been genetically modified for ”altered grain composition, nutrient utilisation efficient, disease resistance or stress tolerance”.

With promises of improved medical treatments, greener energy and even artificial life, the field of synthetic biology has captured the public imagination and attracted significant government and commercial investment.

This excitement reached a crescendo on 21 May 2010, when scientists at the J Craig Venter Institute in the United States announced that they had made a ”self-replicating synthetic bacterial cell”. This was the first living cell to have an entirely human-made genome, which means that all of the cell’s characteristics were controlled by a DNA sequence designed by scientists.