According to an executive of Monsanto, the international food group, modified wheat is on the way. On July 12, Bob Ingratta, Monsanto vice-president of regulatory affairs, told a national conference of seed producers in Canada that the company hopes to have genetically modified wheat to sell in five years. "We need to make sure in Western Canada that we make some significant changes in wheat over the long term that will help farmers improve productivity and improve profitability," he said. GM soybeans, corn and canola have been effective tools for farmers over the past years. But wheat farmers are reluctant to embrace the technology, or to contemplate putting it in the ground. One reason is that the largest market for Canadian wheat is Europe, where GM foods are not allowed. "Certainly most people have read the news and heard that Europe does not want any (genetically modified organisms) at all," said Jerry Kubik, a wheat farmer from Wrentham, Alberta. According to Edmund Lesfrund, a wheat farmer in the province of Alberta, Canada, the technology cannot be trusted. "There is the morbid fear that science may fail us," he said. "Wheat is far too close to people's well-being to have a gamble." Monsanto hopes to change some of those minds before it introduces its seed in half a decade.
