GMO Wheat Settlement & Retro/Safety Program

GMO Wheat Settlement & Retro/Safety Program

GMO Wheat Settlement & Retro/Safety Program

I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

Last year an unapproved for U.S. farming genetically modified wheat strain designed and tested by Monsanto Co. was discovered at an Oregon farm. After a thorough investigation USDA officials found it to be an isolated incident, but the discovery still prompted a temporary ban on purchases of "western soft white" wheat by Japan and South Korea; prompting a suit against Monsanto by several farmers. Monsanto Co. recently agreed to settle the dispute by paying $2.4 million to farmers in Washington, Oregon and Idaho who sold soft white wheat between May 30 and November 30 of 2013. Glen Squires, CEO of the Washington Grain Commission, comments.

SQUIRES: It looks like there's opportunity for growers who were affected to source or apply for compensation regarding any negative impact for them during that time, and it sounds like Monsanto wants to move forward with the growers and that's all positive.

Every year Washington Farm Bureau puts on half day winter safety workshops for their Retro/Safety members. There will be a total of 16 this year held around the state, beginning in December. WFB's Corwyn Fischer.

FISCHER: We'll talk about things to do if that injury does happen from claims management; we've got WSDA that can possibly give us some updates on rules and regulations - same with Department of Labor and Industries, and the Department of Occupational Safety and Health and their updates on rules. It's quite a diverse agenda and we try to cover a lot of different things that may affect those members in our Retro Program.

For workshop dates and locations visit wsfb.com/retro.

That's Washington Ag Today.

I'm Lacy Gray with the Ag Information Network of the West.

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