Iowa legislator-farmer cries foul over StarLink
 
By K.T. Arasu 

CHICAGO, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Iowa legislator Ralph Klemme, who planted 25
acres of an unapproved gene-altered corn that turned up in the food chain,
said on Tuesday he was not fully informed of the restrictions in growing
the corn. 

Klemme, Republican chairman of the Iowa House agricultural committee, said
he would not have grown StarLink corn had he known that other corn
varieties should not be grown within a 660-foot ``buffer zone'' to avoid
cross pollination. 

He said European pharmaceutical giant Aventis SA , which engineered
StarLink corn, told him the corn was approved for use only as animal feed
but failed to inform him that a buffer zone was needed between the corn and
other varieties. 

Corn planted within 660 feet of StarLink corn run the risk of cross
pollination that could leave them with characteristics of StarLink, which
contains a protein that could trigger allergic reactions in humans. 
In the more than one month since the discovery of StarLink corn in taco
shells, 300 kinds of taco shells, tortillas, chips and tostadas have been
recalled from U.S. grocery stores and restaurants because of StarLink
contamination. 

The discovery of the corn in food products in Japan have slowed corn
exports to the Asian nation, the top market for U.S. corn, leading U.S.
authorities to assure Tokyo that corn bound for Japan would be tested for
StarLink. 

Aventis has acknowledged that about 12 percent of this year's StarLink
crop, or 9.6 million bushels, had been commingled into the food chain and
that it would need four years to flush out all the corn. 

``The biggest problem is that we were not told of the 660-foot buffer
strip,'' said Klemme, who plants corn and soybeans in his 550-acre family
farm in Le Mars, about 220 miles northwest of Iowa capital Des Moines. 
Of the 340,908 acres of StarLink corn planted this year, Iowa had the most
with 134,910 acres. 

``There's too much danger of cross pollination. If the wind is just
right...why couldn't it (buffer zone) be 700 feet,'' he told Reuters in a
telephone interview. 

When contacted, a spokesperson for Aventis CropScience, the U.S. unit of
Aventis SA, declined to comment on Klemme's claim. She however said the
company was working with farmers and grain handlers to pay all costs
associated with moving StarLink and corn commingled with StarLink to
approved uses. 

Klemme said Aventis employees visited him on Oct. 4, soon after the
StarLink issue hit the headlines, to inform him that he should keep the
corn separate from other varieties. 

``I kept the StarLink in a separate bin and the bin was not full. The
company then agreed to let me fill the bin with corn from the buffer strip
and consider all of it as StarLink.'' 

Klemme said the company had agreed to pay 25 cents per bushel extra for the
commingled corn. He said there were about 8,000 bushels of StarLink
commingled corn on his farm. 

He said he had no intention of selling the corn this year. ``I want to
carry it into the new tax year,'' he added. 

Klemme said he would not seek compensation from Aventis so long as he
``breaks even'' on the StarLink corn. 

Klemme said he would support any move by Washington legislators to
introduce a law that only permits the sale of crops that can be used as
both food and feed.