Japan postponed a 25,000-ton order from a Portland grain shipper after genetically engineered wheat plants were found in an eastern Oregon field.
Japan postponed a 25,000-ton order from a Portland grain shipper after genetically engineered wheat plants were found in an eastern Oregon field.
Officials at Columbia Grain, which ships from facilities at the Port of Portland, said Japanese buyers are simply being cautious and are waiting for results from an investigation underway by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service.
But the discovery raised alarms on two fronts. Oregon’s wheat crop is valued at $300 million to $500 million annually, and up to 90 percent of it is exported. State agriculture officials, growers and shippers are deeply concerned about market reaction in nations opposed to genetically modified, or GM, food.
Read more at OregonLive.com.
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