Farming groups reluctant to embrace GE

Farming bodies appear reluctant to embrace genetic modification technology (GM) just yet, saying consumers are not ready.

But groups as diverse as Meat and Wool New Zealand and the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development see a place for the technology in the future, particularly in dealing with greenhouse gas emissions.

Meat and Wool New Zealand chairman Mike Petersen said meat companies had told him consumers would not accept GM products in the food chain, but he saw a future role for GM stock feed.

"We're funding research on it because we do think GM feed will be more accepted, and it will be some time before GM animals will be acceptable," he said.

AgResearch subsidiary Grasslanz has developed GM forage crops, which in laboratory trials have been shown to cause less nitrogen and methane emissions in animals while boosting animal production.

The technology now needs to be tested in field trials, and scientists have called for financial and moral support from the farming community.

Mr Petersen said the board funded biotechnology research, and would continue to do so in the expectation it would one day be acceptable to the general public.

Given the long lead-in time for the research, Mr Petersen said New Zealand would be far behind the rest of the world with its research if it waited for that general acceptance before starting.

Mr Petersen said the GM debate had become emotive, but reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock might involve GM technology.

AgResearch faced a massive hurdle to get permission for its field trials from the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) with no certainty of outcome.

Mr Petersen said his board had not been approached by AgResearch to support an application to Erma, and it would wait until it was before taking a position.

New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development chief executive Peter Neilson said in order to address climate change, the public might have to trade off other concerns because GM could be a solution to greenhouse gas emissions.

New Zealand's biggest greenhouse gas was methane emitted by ruminant animals, he said.

It was created by micro-organisms in the stomach, and the problem could be fixed with a vaccine or some form of manipulation of antigens in the gut.

"If we were to look at that, it is almost inevitably going to mean looking at GM," he said.

The public's greatest fear was eating GM food, and Mr Neilson said people might be more accepting of GM feed for livestock if it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

DairyNZ strategy and investment leader Bruce Thorrold was encouraged by the scientific advances, but said the industry needed to be clear about the value of these plants to farmers and the country through possible greenhouse gas mitigation, while taking into account the views of consumers.

"This is yet to be established. Research trials in New Zealand are therefore needed to fully determine the value of the plants. DairyNZ will be actively involved in discussing the possibilities further with AgResearch and the wider industry."