The Globe and Mail, Monday, August 14, 2000
Canola farmer fights seed invasion

GENETIC MODIFICATION Lavern Affleck of Saskatchewan says farmers are being
unwillingly swept into a situation where science is working against them.

By Heather Scoffield

Ottawa -- Saskatchewan canola farmer Lavern Affleck thought long and hard
before going public with his concerns about genetically modified seeds.
Many people are fearful of the environmental and health effects of modified
seeds, which are altered with genes from other plants to make them
resistant to herbicides, but Mr. Affleck had found much of the criticism
too radical or irrational for his tastes.

However, after he saw herbicide-resistant canola unexpectedly popping up
all over his fields this spring, and learned about other farmers whose
fields were also invaded by modified seeds spreading from neighbouring
farms, he figured the time had come to speak out.

"I'm not anti-technology. But I'm having trouble with this one," Mr.
Affleck said in an interview earlier this summer from his farm near Moosomin.
"We are not environmentalists. We are not against science.
"We readily adopt new ideas and implement them on our farm and businesses.
We like to see progress," he said.

"However . . . in the case of GMOs [genetically modified organisms], we
feel that we are being unwillingly swept into a situation where that
science is working against us."

More and more farmers have been expressing their concern that genetically
modified canola may be out of control on the Prairies, said Percy Schmeiser.
Mr. Schmeiser is the Saskatchewan farmer who has been battling
biotechnology multinational Monsanto Co. in Federal Court.

St. Louis-based Monsanto has accused Mr. Schmeiser of breaking patent laws
by obtaining Monsanto's genetically modified Roundup Ready canola seed,
breeding it and planting it without paying Monsanto the required fees.
Monsanto and Mr. Schmeiser finished their court hearings last month and
they're now waiting for a decision, expected in September at the earliest.
In the meantime, publicity surrounding the trial has prompted dozens of
farmers to contact Mr. Schmeiser to discuss their concerns about
out-of-control canola, Mr. Schmeiser said.

"I've had at least 100 farmers across the West telling me about problems
they're having with volunteer canola. It's just unreal the number of people
who have canola in their fields after they have sprayed."

So-called "volunteers" are canola plants that sprout in a farmer's field
even though they weren't planted there by the farmer. Most volunteer canola
spreads by wind or in pollen carried by bees.

The farmers talking to Mr. Schmeiser say they're finding large amounts of
volunteer canola in their grain fields. And because much of that volunteer
canola is genetically modified to withstand Roundup, a powerful weed killer
made by Monsanto, farmers complain they're having to adopt increasingly
complex and expensive systems of spraying herbicides to keep the volunteer
canola at bay and out of their fields.

"They've lost control of it now," Mr. Schmeiser said. "That is a very
serious thing."

Monsanto agrees that its Roundup Ready canola can spread, but insists that
controlling the spread is no different than for any other type of plant.
All it takes is good farm management, said Craig Evans, general manager of
biotechnology for Monsanto Canada Inc.

"It's not a new phenomenon," he said in an interview from Saskatoon. "Can
[genetically modified] canola outcrop? Yes, it can, but no more so than any
other crop."

The federal government body that regulates genetically modified seeds is
not so sure Roundup Ready canola is under control.

Asked whether Roundup Ready canola was out of control, Bart Bilmer,
spokesman for the Office of Biotechnology at the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency, was unclear. "Certainly it's been a question that's been raised,"
he said. "That's my answer."

For Mr. Affleck, the prevalence of Roundup Ready canola has meant the loss
of a major weed-control tool. He has never planted Monsanto's canola
because he makes extensive use of the Roundup herbicide to control weeds in
all his crops. He didn't want any plant that was resistant to Roundup mixed
up in his system.

But a strong windstorm blew swaths of Roundup Ready canola on to his
fields, and now, he can't effectively use Roundup any longer to control
weeds in his crops. He's had to add another herbicide to the roster to get
rid of the genetically modified canola growing like weeds among his wheat.
"It may be necessary to use a lot more potentially more harmful chemicals
to kill this monster."

He called Monsanto about the problem, and the company agreed to pay for the
treatment. But he's not so sure Monsanto will be around to pick up the bill
every year. And evidence is growing that Monsanto's canola is not only
resistant to Roundup, but is also becoming resistant to other herbicides as
well -- a suspicion the Canadian Food Inspection Agency shares.

"I will never get rid of that crop. And I will never be able to grow an
organic crop," he said. "And for the future, I will never be able to
effectively use Roundup for my weed control."

Monsanto, however, said it has received only 15 complaints about volunteer
canola in five years of selling the genetically modified seeds on the
Prairies, and every case has been well looked after. Indeed, Mr. Evans said
more and more farmers have been embracing Monsanto's modified canola and
the company's market share in Western Canada has risen steadily.
"This has had virtually no effect on my business," he said.

Manitoba farmer and seed grower Wayne Dobee has no ideological problem with
genetically modified seeds and doesn't have much sympathy for Mr. Schmeiser
and his legal battle with Monsanto.  He has no problem with Monsanto trying
to protect its patent.

But he does want to see Monsanto and the other multinational biotechnology
companies take responsibility for volunteer crops and the sprays needed to
keep them under control.

"If they're going to produce a seed that's genetically modified, they
should be able to guarantee some kind of control," he said in an interview
from his farm near Alexander, Man. "They should be responsible for it."


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