Five years after genetically modified (GM) crops became available for use in Canada, the Canadian National Farmers Union (NFU; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) is lobbying the Canadian federal government to legislate industry compensation for unintended genetic alteration of crops. NFU members, which include both organic farmers and those who grow GM crops, decry the "genetic pollution that has infringed on the livelihoods of farmers or the general public."

The move follows the NFU's annual meeting last December, in which a resolution was passed opposing the use of GM organisms. Agricultural biotechnology is a "gigantic experiment" says NFU spokesperson Stewart Wells. To Wells, an organic farmer from the province of Saskatchewan, it is the airborne contamination of his canola with GM varieties of canola that is a problem.

Ann Clark, an agronomist at the University of Guelph in the province of Ontario, agrees. "Canola pollen can move up to 8 kilometers; [pollen from] corn and potatoes, about 1 kilometer," says Clark, citing New Scientist (vol. 160, issue 2158, 1998) "Wind is only one of the ways pollen moves. Canola pollen, for example, is carried by pollinators."

The Canadian government's national standards for organic agriculture, announced in April, prohibit the use of GM organisms but have yet to define a tolerance level for genetic pollution. Under the threat of airborne contamination, Wells and other organic farmers could lose their organic certification because it will be impossible to guarantee that their produce is free of genetically engineered traits. "If this continues, once wheat, barley, lentils, and other crops are genetically engineered, I won't have anything left to grow," he says.

Organic crop production represents a significant segment of the Canadian agri-food industry, approaching Canadian$1 billion dollars (US$0.68 billion) in sales annually. Sales are growing at 20% per year, according to the Canadian Organic Advisory Board. However, the nation's farmers have already lost markets for canola in Europe—from 83 tonnes in '94/95 to 20 tonnes in '97/98, according to Canola Council of Canada figures—some of which is attributed to uncertainty over whether the Canadian canola is genetically pure. "Exports are being vastly hurt right now," says Clark. Further lossses in canola markets would be a blow to the Canadian economy; canola seed exports accounted for 22% of Canada's agrifood exports in 1997.

Moreover, farmers who cultivate GM varieties also claim to be affected by "genetic pollution." Tony Huethers, a canola farmer in the province of Alberta, planted several GM cultivars purchased from Monsanto (St. Louis, MO) in 1997. One field was sown with Quest, a Roundup (glyphosate)-resistant cultivar. Another field, 30 meters away across an intervening road, was sown with Innovator, a Liberty (glufosinate)-resistant cultivar, and 45A71, a cultivar resistant to Pursuit (imazethapyr). The intervening distance between the fields exceeded the standard buffer zone of 6 meters. Two applications of Roundup herbicide last year to the field sown with Innovator and 45A71 killed all the weeds but revealed glyphosate-resistant canola in the field sown with the other cultivars. The population was thickest near the road. Airborne dispersal of pollen from the glyphosate-resistant plants was suspected, given that the nearest source of natural pollination, a commercial bee hive, was 13 kilometers away.

Meanwhile, Percy Schmeiser, a Saskatchewan farmer who also grows GM crops, is being sued by Monsanto for possessing and growing Roundup-resistant canola without permission. Schmeiser contends that he inadvertently grew the crop, which he claims was spread to his fields via the wind or by pollinators such as bees.

Monsanto officials have not commented on the NFU action. However, speaking about the problems of contamination that the farmers in Saskatchewan have experienced, Aaron Mitchell, a Monsanto representative based in Saskatoon, says that "We always expected that a level of natural outcross would occur within the species," and that "Farmers need to talk to their neighbors about the canola they grow."

The NFU anticipates a private members bill in the federal parliament when the current session resumes after a summer hiatus.

Organic and GM farmers claim that genetic pollution is infringing on their livelihoods.