Global biotechnology company Monsanto has begun an education and advocacy campaign to change the opposition many Australia consumers have to genetically modified food. [...] Monsanto's head in Australia, Peter O'Keefe [...] said something had to be done to turn around the poor global performance of wheat against other crops, which he said was caused partly by public opposition to GM crops and "crippling" government policies in Australia.

Gene Ethics’ election survey found both major parties are very aware of deep community concerns over Genetically Manipulated Organisms (GMOs) on farms and in food. But unlike the Greens, neither the ALP nor the Coalition would commit to strengthen the law or regulatory systems. “This complacency over GM threats means the Greens’ clear support for GM-free futures and precaution on GM food and crops will be crucial if they hold the balance of power in the next parliament,” says Gene Ethics Executive Director, Bob Phelps.

THE State Government has this week detailed two crop research and development facilities, one with a distinct focus on genetically modified organisms, to be established at Merredin. The "New Genes for New Environments" facility will provide a controlled testing envirmonment to enable the grains industry to evaluate growth and yield characteristics of genetically modified traits. The second is a Managed Environment Facility (MEF) for specialised research on non-GM crops.

AN exclusive Stock Journal survey has found that 46 per cent of South Australian farmers do not support the moratorium on genetically-modified crops being lifted. In 2008, the Rann government pledged to maintain the moratorium on growing GM canola, saying there was no evidence it would have a positive impact. This stance was reiterated during the 2010 election campaign.

An online map has been released identifying farmers who are growing genetically modified canola across Western Australia. The map's creator, the anti-GM lobby group Gene Ethics, said the map would enable farmers growing non-GM canola to protect their crops from contamination. The online map pinpoints 14 farmers who have publicly said they were growing or intended to grow GM canola this year.

SHADOW Agriculture Minister Mick Murray has sparked another war of words over the price of Genetically Modified (GM) crops but probably returned from the battle wearing more scars than the targets he was firing bullets at. Mr Murray issued a media statement last week saying grain marketers had been forced to discount GM canola crops this year in an attempt to encourage buyers, despite prior warnings from the Labor Party.

Monsanto, the developer of the Roundup Ready technology used in the canola, now believes there will be over 70,000 hectares of GM canola grown in WA, the nation’s largest canola producing state. It is more than double the figure estimated just last month. Monsanto’s Western Australia business manager Tom Breen was quick to claim the upwardly revised figure as proof WA was embracing the technology.

Australia needs to focus on wheat breeding technologies including genetically modified wheat, Peter Reading, managing director of Australia’s Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) said on Tuesday. But GM wheat was unlikely to be commercially available for another 10 years, he told the International Grains Council’s conference.

MONSANTO canola technical specialist James Neilsen believes Australian growers can manage glyphosate use in genetically modified glyphosate resistant canola crops, in spite of suggestions from anti-GM campaigners that Roundup Ready lines have led to large-scale resistance problems in the United States.

The new director of Rothamstead Research in the UK, the largest, oldest and arguably the most important agricultural research station in the world, is Professor Maurice Moloney, a scientist best known for developing the world’s first transgenic oilseeds and the genetically modified crop that is grown in Australia, RoundUp Ready® Canola. Professor Moloney argues that GM is all about feeding a hungry world