> Reuters 

> Processors caution farmers on sowing biotech seeds 

> USA: November 22, 2000 CHICAGO 

> As farmers in the US Midwest begin making seed choices for 
> their 2001 crops, two major grain processors are advising 
> growers to avoid genetically modified varieties that have 
> not been approved in export markets. Archer Daniels Midland 
> Co. has begun airing radio advertisements in parts of Illinois 
> and Iowa saying it will only accept crops that have been approved 
> worldwide for feed and food use, spokesman Larry Cunningham 
> said Monday. A.E. Staley Manufacturing Co., a unit of Tate 
> & Lyle Plc , sent a letter to 1,200 its corn suppliers last 
> week cautioning them against biotech hybrids that have not 
> been approved for export to Europe. "The only truly safe 
> seed selection will be seed corn free of any genetic 
> modification," Staley's letter said. "Our suggestions to 
> you for seed corn selection in 2001 are: Non-GMO - yes; 
> EU-approved hybrids - plant with caution; Hybrids not 
> EU-approved - absolutely not."
> 
>  ADM is running radio ads in four markets where it has corn 
> processing plants: Decatur and Peoria, Illinois, and 
> Clinton and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The ads say in part: "To 
> make sure the products ADM produces meet consumer demand 
> and comply with worldwide regulations, we will only accept 
> at our processing plants crops that have full feed and food 
> approval worldwide."
> 
>  The messages from both companies allude to problems with 
> StarLink corn, a biotech variety not approved for human 
> food that was detected in taco shells in September. The 
> incident prompted the recall of some 300 food products in 
> the United States and widespread testing of corn shipments 
> overseas. But the two companies say they have not changed 
> their policies toward biotech crops. Cunningham said ADM 
> sent correspondence on the issue to its suppliers for the 
> last two years. This year, he said: "We decided to 
> reinforce it with a radio ad campaign, just to make sure 
> farmers got the message."
> 
>  Pat Mohan, a spokesman for Tate & Lyle North America, said 
> Staley sent a similar letter to its suppliers last fall. 
> 
>  "We've highlighted a few things given the StarLink 
> situation, but it's basically the same suggestions we had 
> for farmers last year," he said. The US Department of 
> Agriculture said in a June report that genetically modified 
> varieties constituted 25 percent of the total 2000 US corn 
> crop and 54 percent of the 2000 soybean crop. Story by 
> Julie Ingwersen 
>
> REUTERS NEWS SERVICE [Entered November 22, 2000]