October 25, 1999

GM farmers advised to use federal loan programs

WASHINGTON, Reuters [WN] via NewsEdge Corporation :
With genetically modified (GM) crops facing growing
uncertainty, U.S. corn growers should protect themselves
by using commodity loan programs that give the option of
forfeiting crops to the federal government, the American
Corn Growers Association said Friday.

About one-third of this year's U.S. corn harvest of nearly
9.5 billion bushels will be bioengineered varieties.

But farm groups worry that growing consumer resistance in
Europe and a move by the Federal Drug Administration to
look at whether GM ingredients should be labelled could
make GM crops less profitable than traditional ones.

The Corn Growers Association said it was urging American
farmers now in the midst of harvesting their 1999 crop to
use the U.S. Agriculture Department's commodity loan
program.

That way, if prices for bioengineered crops "continue to
drop because of lowered export demand, they always
have the option of forfeiting their commodity back to the
government," the group said in a statement.

The program allows farmers to forfeit crops that are
pledged as collateral for short-term USDA loans. It was
designed by Congress to keep U.S. crops moving into the
market rather than accumulating price-depressing
surpluses.

Many farm groups and lawmakers say the big question will
be what kinds of seeds farmers buy for spring planting
next year. Growers typically decide by January or February
what they will plant, in order to take advantage of
discounts offered by seed companies.

"Questions of liability, labelling and marketability are
compounded by the questions of certification,
segregation, cross-pollination and corporate
concentration," said Gary Goldberg, head of the corn
industry group.

"If any of these questions are not answered to the
satisfaction of the agricultural producer, alternatives to
genetically modified organisms should be considered for
this coming spring," he added.

((Julie Vorman, 202 898 8467

washington.commodsenergy.newsroom@reuters.com))
REUTERS