Challenges in agricultural production over the past decade and a renewed regulatory push could be setting the stage for the eventual introduction into the United States of biotechnologically engineered wheat ground for flour for domestic food use.
Recent developments toward the introduction of genetically modified wheat come about 10 years after the previous push for commercialization, and much has changed since then. Fewer farmers who have their choice of crops based on their climate and geography are choosing to grow wheat. Several crop years have had yields slashed by severe drought. Misinformation and disinformation, including unscientific attacks on bioengineered crops, became more prevalent as the social media era reached maturity. And for more than a year, grain markets have been destabilized by war between two major global exporters.
Wheat-focused trade associations are reviewing and updating policies on GM wheat to better reflect the current scientific data. The US Department of Agriculture is expected to make a determination on an application submitted by a South American company, Bioceres Crop Solutions, to allow cultivation of GM wheat in the United States.
