Category: Challenges

GMO Wheat in Oregon

While I was at the Oregon State University Field Day the announcement came that there has been GMO wheat found in Oregon. While this may not seem like something to worry about, others feel as though the world is ending, and while still other people may still just not care. So I’ll let you know from my perspective why this may not be too concerning, why this worries me, and why in some cases this may add fuel to the anti GMO fire.

To start off, GMO wheat has not been released for production agriculture. There were some trials done in Eastern Oregon back in the early 2000’s but that trial ended in 2004. So far they have not figured out where the GMO (Round up resistant) wheat has come from. But there is well documented information on how Monsanto, after ending the trials, went through a rigorous process to end the trials. Monsanto said, “…the USDA’s report that its near decade-old Roundup Ready wheat trait had been found in a single field raised important questions about the circumstance and source of the presence. Monsanto’s process for closing out the Roundup Ready wheat program was rigorous, well-documented and audited. The company’s own internal investigation has confirmed that it did not have any prior test site at the location where the material under investigation was reported to have been present.”

The good news is that from a health perspective there is nothing to be scared of. GMO wheat has been tested just as rigorously as corn, soybeans and other GMO crops that are sold on the market widely. So the reality of contamination is there, but the reality of something to fear with food safety is not. Also there is a high level of transparency as they get this all figured out. Starting at the level of the farmer, who took it upon themselves to do the right thing and report what was going on in their field. They had the choice to just be quiet, but the implications could have been much larger for an industry that is the 5th highest commodity in Oregon and the #1 highest exported crop.

The part that concerns me the most is what this is going to do for the business side of things. Majority of the wheat from the Pacific Northwest heads over to Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. All of which have shown some concern over GMO crops. As of May 30th, they have suspended their regular tender. I don’t have an update on this, as far as if they have re-instated their usual buying or if they are still suspended. But this just goes to show that there could be some concern for farmers in our area selling their wheat, if the largest buyer of it, will start to institute more testing from our end to prove that the GMO gene is not in our products.

Another large concern I have is that this will only add flame to the anti GMO fever that has been growing around Oregon. Personally I think we should call it an anti-science movement because most conspiracy theory enthusiasts make this easy jump from denying scientific data and just claim that there is some conspiracy by “big ag”. Hence the March on Monsanto that just happened a week ago. “I think the controversy over GMOs represents one of the greatest science communications failures of the past half-century. Millions, possibly billions, of people have come to believe what is essentially a conspiracy theory, generating fear and misunderstanding about a whole class of technologies on an unprecedentedly global scale.” This is a quote from Mark Lynas, one of the huge supporters of anti GMO movements across the country. But in the most recent past has started to look at the science instead of the drama and in his most recent speech says,

“I am a historian, and history surely offers us, from witch trials to eugenics, numerous examples of how when public misunderstanding and superstition becomes widespread on an issue, irrational policymaking is the inevitable consequence, and great damage is done to peoples’ lives as a result. This is what has happened with the GMOs food scare in Europe, Africa and many other parts of the world. Allowing anti-GMO activists to dictate policymaking on biotechnology is like putting homeopaths in charge of the health service, or asking anti-vaccine campaigners to take the lead in eradicating polio.”

If you listen to his entire speech you can see how GMO’s haven’t only helped many people, there have also been a number of people that have died because they didn’t have GMO products available to them. This is a sad and scary reality.

The investigation into what is going to happen in Oregon and to our ag markets is yet to be seen.  This will be a process in which transparency, cooperation and information will be key. No one, including Monsanto and us farmers want to see GMO wheat production go into play until it is meant to be released and the market is ready for the products we could provide. So let’s be concerned, but for the right reasons!

A few Facts & off to the Capital again…

Since I’ve started to follow the US Farmer and Rancher Alliance, I have been learning so much about how to tell my ag story, why it’s important and some key ways to go about doing this most effectively. So while I was back in New York and attended one of their events, I wanted to share a few facts that really stuck out to me that go along these lines.

  1. 25% of Americans have questions about their food.
  2. 49% of consumers think that agriculture is on the wrong track.
  3. 75% of consumers like farmers, but 42% of them don’t like how we farm.
  4. 95% of farms are family owned and operated in the United States.

All of these facts point to us as farmers to start to restore relevancy, and to do that the USFRA says we need to start using trust and transparency. I have an idea what that might look like for a company like Monsanto, and I have an idea of what that might look like for a farm or ranch that is trying to keep things in the closet about what they are doing. But for me, transparency and trust is something that I hope this blog tends to address. I am proud of what we are doing our here, and how we are treating the land. And it’s something that I want to continue.

It goes beyond a blog however so I say all of this while in the back of my head rolling around is the testimony that I will give later today at the Oregon capital all about protecting our farmland. I’m off to Salem again, this time it isn’t GMO’s or pesticides or our right to farm. This time it’s a four land highway, a toll road no less, that is threatening to come right through the heart of our beautiful farmland that we have here. Class one and two soils, that I feel we need to protect. And because of all the facts above, I know that I need to be out there, and let people know how we are growing their food and that we are making the most of the great wonderful soil that we are so lucky to have and cherish. If you’re around come listen to Senate Bill 2696 this afternoon at 3pm, it might be interesting to see farmers get up and tell legislatures why this is so important to stop!!

Oregon Senate Bill 633

I usually don’t post twice a day, but the expection is that I know my sister deserves her own blog for her birthday…so here’s the second (less important 🙂 blog for the day!

Senate Bill 633 is a seed preemption bill.  We are trying to allow all regulation in relation to growing seed in Oregon to be considered an issue of statewide importance and only be regulated at the State or Federal level, not locally or at the county level.  This started because of a county group that is trying to ban the growing of GMO’s in their county.  My friend Marie wrote a great blog about why this has come about and included why she testified at the hearing on her blog Oregon Green.

I also testified last week and wanted to include my testimony.  There were a lot of experts who came to say their piece about why they did or didn’t want this to go into effect, but for me I tried to really bring it back to my story, and why I’m here farming and how this could really help our future of farmers here in Oregon.  So enjoy!

March 12, 2013

Re: Senate Bill 633

Dear Senate Committee on Rural Communities & Economic Development,

My name is Brenda Kirsch and I am a third generation farmer in St. Paul Oregon.  I have been farming with my family for the past seven years, and look forward to continuing on with this legacy.  We grow perennial ryegrass, hazelnuts, vegetables, wheat and clover on our 1000 acre farm.

I’m writing today in great support for Senate Bill 633, the seed preemption bill.  This bill if passed would allow me as a young farmer the security of knowing that the regulation of crops would be only at the state and federal level; an assurance that would go a long ways in securing the future of our farms here in Oregon.

If we begin to have local government setting regulations this would very quickly create a nightmare for me as a producer.  We farm in different towns and on borders of other counties, and our pollen doesn’t stop at the county line no matter how much you think that might happen.  Can you imagine being regulated on what you can grow in one town and not the same in another?  In the area that I live specifically, we farm on the border of 3 towns.  One of our farms is actually on two different tax lots, in two different towns.  It would be a logistical disaster and not just for me as a farmer, but also for manufacturers, and distributors as well!  Beyond that our over 400 local city governments and 36 counties would feel the financial stress of taking care of these incredibly large, complex, and scientific issues that would come before them.  I know that my small town of St. Paul, population 322, does not have near the resources to be making decisions based on what crops we can and cannot grow there!

Federally we already have in place the USDA, EPA, and FDA to regulate for example genetically engineered crops.  While on the state side we have the ODA to do their due diligence in working with state specific situations.  These are funded departments that have the expertise, financial backing and research to take on these large issues!

In a recent survey done by the American Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers it was shown that the second highest concern for young farmers today was burdensome government regulations and “red tape.”  When I filled out that survey, I put that as my number one concern because I know that the potential for future regulation at even lower level of governments is out there and to me that is very scary.  To be honest coming back to the farm, I had no idea how hard I would have to fight to continue farming in Oregon.  Because of this I am a very active member in many groups locally and statewide.  After three generations my family is here to stay, and obviously we can’t move the land that we have worked for decades, and because of that I’m ready to take on the challenge of allowing us to continue growing crops.  I also see bills like 633 as a positive move toward a little more security for my family’s farm and our future here in Oregon.

This is just one way that you can be proactive legislatively and show your support for agriculture in Oregon.  So please pass SB 633, don’t cut the legs out from under any of our federal and state regulators and pass the buck to counties and cities who are unprepared for these issues.

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Brenda Kirsch

At the end of the hearing, a few people who were testifying on the other side of the issue approached Marie and myself and asked us why we would want to ever give up our rights at the local level?!  We assured them that this…again…is an issue that is too big for counties or towns to make decisions on.  What I wish I would have asked them is why they were ok with banning GMO’s in their county and taking the right for farmers to grow GMO crops in their county away?  I guess the struggle to protect our farming here in Oregon goes on and on….