Many farmers approve of rice deal

As Southeast Missouri rice farmers gear up for the 2005 planting season, they say it will be with a little less anxiety after last week's deal that will ensure that the state's first genetically modified rice crops will be far away from their own.

"We're pleased that they're moving 120 miles from us. We'd have been more pleased if it was 1,000 miles," said Sonny Martin, a rice farmer from Bernie who is also chairman of the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council.

On Friday, beer behemoth Anheuser-Busch Co. backed away from its threat to boycott Missouri's rice after Ventria Bioscience agreed to move its pioneer crop at least 120 miles from commercial rice crops. Ventria had planned to grow 150 acres of so called "pharm crops" -- those that contain human medicines -- on a farm near the junction of Route EE and Highway 77 in Chaffee.

The deal came a few days after Anheuser-Busch, one of the country's largest buyers of U.S. rice, had said it was concerned genetically modified crops could contaminate rice made for human consumption. Busch's fears echoed similar concerns made by several rice farmers, who felt it would significantly damage the market.

So last week's deal -- brokered by Gov. Matt Blunt and U.S. Sen. Kit Bond and assisted by U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson -- was seen as good news to rice farmers.

"We were really putting our rice market at risk by doing this," said Paul Combs, a rice farmer with 3,500 acres near Kennett. "We had feared that buyers would react the same way Busch did. So when they did, it validated our thinking."

But not every rice farmer was relieved by the deal. David Herbst was the farmer who was going to grow the first crop for Ventria on his Chaffee farm. He said the project was worthwhile and that contamination could be controlled.

"It bothers me," he said. "Not that it's not going to be on my farm. It's just now Southeast Missouri farmers are not going to participate. It didn't have to be that way. It's unfortunate that circumstances and the players drove this technology out of the Bootheel. We have missed out on a terrific opportunity."

So-called biopharming could have opened up new markets for rice, he said. In this case, plants would have been modified to become manufacturers of proteins, a less expensive process than growing the proteins in a laboratory or extracting them from animal tissue.

Looking for new site

Ventria says the rice could then be engineered to produce proteins that have the potential to address health issues like severe dehydration due to diarrhea, which kills more than 1.3 million children under the age of 5 every year across the globe.

Now Ventria is looking for a new site, though Herbst said one has not yet been selected.

"But I am tickled to death these guys are staying in Missouri," he said. "This wasn't about Dave Herbst. Overall, the goal has been accomplished. This is a tremendous victory for the future of agriculture in the state of Missouri."

Others disagree, however.

Chris Williams, a rice farmer in Poplar Bluff and president of the U.S. Rice Producers Association, said the deal offers a good first step, though there are still concerns.

"It was a positive development," he said. "But we wonder why rice producers weren't involved in the discussions or negotiations. Nobody included us in any of this, and that was disappointing."

Williams said that other big buyers should also agree to continue buying Missouri rice crops, such as Riceland Foods, Gerber and Kellogg.

"Even if it's planted 120 miles from the nearest commercial crop, it still might be a concern for some buyers. We hope other buyers will follow suit and say that they will still buy our crops."

Jason Bean, a rice farmer near Gideon, echoed other rice farmers by emphasizing that he is not opposed to the technology. He just wishes there could be more assurances made about contamination.

"I have said all along that I have been for biotech science," he said. "But I also believe in the science of economics. If there's a chance it could hurt me economically, then of course I'm going to have concerns."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137