Sunday January 23 7:00 PM ET Canola growers watching the biotechnology debate closely; many won't decide what to plant until spring LEANNE YOHEMAS-HAYES, The Canadian Press (CP) - Although farmers know the advantages of biotechnology, the European public outcry has made them wary. As the debate moves to Montreal this week, where 130 countries will try to devise biosafety rules, canola growers are watching closely. Some won't decide what to plant until spring, while others have already made up their minds. Pat Durnin won't be planting genetically modified canola this year. "We're going to take a year and sit back," the Alberta farmer says. "We're not willing to take the marketing risk in case this whole issue, from the consumers' point of view, is as big as it appears to be." No consumers mean no money. Consumers are always right, even if they're dead wrong, says Lesley McCallum a farmer from Aylsham, Sask. And it doesn't seem to matter that Europe isn't a big buyer of Canadian canola oil. "But that doesn't mean that things that happen around the world don't affect prices of various commodities," says Cory Ollikka, president of the National Farmers Union. "For crying out loud, when Yeltsin sneezes, the price of wheat goes up." It's been a tough year for canola growers. A glut in the market has driven down prices and some Prairie farmers have had to deal with drought or flooding. European boycotts and bans of modified products have also had an impact. Because the price dropped $3 a bushel, Glenn Sawyer says he's more than happy taking a year off from canola. "I'm not too worried," he says about the impact of the European boycotts. But he does think about the impact that genetically engineered grain could have on his business. "If I did decided to grow it, then I would make sure that the company would write in the contract they would take it." Sawyer also says labelling should be mandatory - but for products that don't contain genetically modified ingredients. Earlier this fall, the federal government, Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors and the Canadian General Standards Board promised to look at setting standards for voluntary labelling. Labelling is tricky because Canadian grain wholesalers mix conventional crops with modified ones, making it difficult for food processors to know how much genetically modified ingredients they're using. They're in everything from cake mixes, margarine and whipped toppings to coffee creamers, candy, frostings, bread, sauces and breakfast cereal. The technology for genetically modified canola involves splicing a gene from a bacteria resistant to a specific herbicide into canola seeds. Chemically, there's no way to identify the oil as being from a genetically manipulated source because the DNA is in protein in the husks removed in the crushing process. Genetically modified seeds have passed federal regulations and are actively promoted by the industry but recent polls suggested the majority of Canadians think modified foods will harm their health. McCallum says she made her decision to grow conventional canola because she found it was a less expensive option than other methods. "However, in pinch, I would not be so high-moralled about it that I wouldn't grow a transgenic canola." Ontario corn farmers still strongly support genetically-enhanced crops says Anna Bragg, president of the Ontario Corn Producers Association. About 35 per cent of corn crops contain genetically modified seeds in Canada; with canola it's around 60 per cent. Genetically modified soy accounts for nearly 20 per cent, while potatoes less than one per cent, say agriculture researchers. Farmers' wariness won't be assuaged any time soon, says Alan Wildeman of the Food System Biotechnology Centre, a new research organization at the University of Guelph. "The spectre that someone is going to use this knowledge to create things that are going to kill people is getting too much attention," he says. "I think that eventually the right information will be out there and the public will know a lot more about what the science is behind things and what the benefits of this technology will be. "It's going to take a while for us to get there." (c) The Canadian Press, 2000