By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor WILMINGTON, Del. — Though it received USDA registration to begin selling its new Agrisure Rootworm trait this growing season, Syngenta Corp.’s latest yellow corn seed has not cleared some foreign governmental hurdles.
The rootworm-resistant trait, MIR 604, is being marketed to U.S. and Canadian farmers under the trade names NK Brand, Garst and Golden Harvest. The National Corn Growers Assoc. (NCGA) is advising American farmers the biotech trait – sold separately and combined with other traits – has not received full regulatory approval in Japan or the European Union (EU).
“We’re taking extremely careful steps in the outside chance it is not approved prior to harvest,” said Tom Gahm, U.S. head of communications for Syngenta, a Switzerland-based company.
He added Syngenta is working with the Japanese government particularly to obtain approval “hopefully, before the grain is harvested.” Just in case approval doesn’t come through, and in compliance with NCGA, Syngenta is asking farmers for written marketing plans to assure they will sell the resulting corn domestically.
Given strong U.S. demand for yellow corn for both ethanol production and livestock feed, Gahm said Syngenta is confident farmers can find alternative customers for their harvest, if necessary.
According to Joel Severinghaus, international trade analyst with Iowa Farm Bureau, in 2006 Japan imported approximately 660 million bushels, or 22 percent of global corn imports. This is roughly one-third of what the United States exported, or seven percent of total U.S. production last year.
In comparison, Argentina is the world’s second-largest corn exporter, and last year it only exported 440 million bushels. Brazil and China tied for third, with only one-third the exports, apiece, of Argentina.
Severinghaus noted tight global corn supplies, saying, “With the economic growth in China and the demand for meat production, China could switch any year from being a corn exporter to a corn importer.”
Since more than 90 percent of the corn Japan imports for its cattle and hogs is from the United States, and with decreasing global corn availability, why would the Japanese government be so choosy about a seed product?
“My experience is that the Japanese consumer is one of the most quality-conscious shoppers on the planet,” Severinghaus said.
Not only is the average Japanese affluent enough to pay more for the corn they want, they are wary of food safety because of their own domestic agricultural problems. Severinghaus listed instances of Mad Cow disease, E. coli, contaminated dairy products and concern about pesticide residue on Chinese crop imports just in the past several years.
“This is routine and par for the course with Japan,” he said of the delay.
Gahm agreed Syngenta and other seed companies are accustomed to waiting on foreign approval for new products. According to NCGA, Monsanto and Dow are currently among those also awaiting EU approval on new traits.
Iowa has the most corn of any state, contributing nearly 20 percent of annual U.S. production, and using much of its own stores lately for ethanol.
Of the other top-four producing states, Illinois is ranked second and Indiana, fifth.
This farm news was published in the April 4, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
