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GM Issues
GM canola adoption in Western Australia – Feb 2014
Bill Crabtree, B.Ag.Sci., M.Sci., Farmer, Conservationist & Agronomist
The adoption of GM canola has been enthusiastically embraced by farmers in Western Australia and at a record pace. In 2014 the adoption of GM canola stands at 210,000 hectares, or 22% of the WA canola crop. It began in 2009 with only 850 hectares and 17 farmers under the watchful eye of Terry Redman (then WA Ag Minister). It is now estimated that about 1,000 farmers will grow it.
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download a pdf version of the document >>> | February 2014 |
Opinion to The West Australian: Kim Chance Blind to GM Facts
Bill Crabtree (M.Sci) and Rick Roush
Multi-award winning sustainable agricultural scientist and Morawa farmer
Dean of Land and Environment, University of Melbourne
Former Agricultural Minister Kim Chance has continued to ignore the widely documented environmental and economic advantages of GM crops, with statements almost as wild as his claim in the WA Parliament that eating GM food would make you grow a tail! Limited by space, we correct here just some of the claims that Mr Chance made about GM crops on 28 January in The West Australian (page 20).
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download a pdf version of the document >>> | 24 March 2010 |
GM defence
Bill Crabtree, Consultant and Morawa farmer
Bee Winfield and Stewart Seesink in their letters on 10th December are quite illogical and aggressive to Terry Redman and Ian Edwards. But do their emotional claims stack up? I wonder if either of them have ever visited Canada and witnessed firsthand GM canola over there.
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download a pdf version of the document >>> | January 2010 |
Newman’s motives revealed?
Bill Crabtree, 19th November 2009, Letter to Editor – Farm Weekly WA.
Letter to the editor –17th January 2010
Julie Newman makes more inaccurate GM claims in the Farm Weekly on 7th January. I was approached by Borden farmer John Stone to see if we could develop a frost tolerant wheat using GM technology. John was one of the three Directors for Green Blueprint which was set up for this purpose. John has been saying for over 10 years (to GRDC included) that frost is a serious issue that needs the best science to manage.
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download a pdf version of the document >>> | 17 January 2010 |
GRDC and frost event
Bill Crabtree, 19th November 2009, Letter to Editor – Farm Weekly, WA
It is pleasing that GRDC see frost as an important issue. I note that Neil Young is taking much of the credit for the recent GRDC event that gathered together those with an understanding of frost. I am disappointed that Neil’s invitation list did not include anyone from the WA group who tried to launch a project on frost tolerant wheat.
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download a pdf version of the document >>> | 19 November 2009 |
GM wheat response
Opinion or Letter to Editor
GM wheat will happen, and the sooner the better! Those that get the jump on the rest of the world with this technology will make the first stronger dollars. In contrast to the Flat Earth Society, I believe it should be us rather than the Russians, who have the world’s largest gene store bank at the Vavilov Institute (www.vir.nw.ru/), with “Its global gene collection representing plant diversity encompassing 320,000 accessions of 155 botanical families, 2,532 species of 425 genera.” To infer that the Russia and Ukrainians, with their fertile soils, will only get into GM wheat on our Western coat tails is either misleading or naive.
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download a pdf version of the document >>> | 21 July 2009 |
Beware of the pseudo greens – like Greenpeace
By Bill Crabtree
Could Greenpeace actually be fighting against the environment? Is it possible that Greenpeace has a greater desire to maximise their own profits than do the best thing for the environment and the community in general? Could they be trying to scare well-meaning people on the street in order to attract donations? Indeed, is Greenpeace a multinational? Or worse still could Greenpeace be obstructing the truth?
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download a pdf version of the document >>> | 28 October 2009 |
Response to GM concerns
GM canola has shown how powerful it will be for weed control and improved yields at the WA Crop Updates last week in many presented papers. Of the 380 people in attendance, which included leading agronomists and farmers, Department staff, interstate experts and some of WA’s best scientists, the mood with GMs was: “it’s about time we stopped talking about it and just got on with it.” There were no dissenters on GMs at this most powerful agricultural event. This tone contrasts the regular paranoia that comes through the newspapers each week. So why is there such a contrast in views?
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download a pdf version of the document >>> | 28 February 2009 |
Misleading comments
By Bill Crabtree
Yet again Julie Newman puts together throw-away comments that are just not true and have no credibility. It is sad that she seems either not capable of, or willing to, learn from the world’s best in plant breeding and agronomy. Julie for four years I have been asking you to visit typical farmers in Canada, USA, South America and Spain to test you GM assertions. Sadly, this request is to no avail and yet you still speak with such “authority”.
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download a pdf version of the document >>> | 22 August 2008 |
Review of Information Forums on GM crops in WA
By Bill Crabtree
Three GM information sessions were held in WA on the 4th, 5th and 6th of March at Dalwallinu, Corrigin and Dongara. At all three events Mr Scott Day from Canada was the keynote speaker on the “Impact of GM canola on Canadian Prairie Farming”. |
download a pdf version of the document >>> | 16 May 2008 |
GM Issues
– and earlier issues here >>>