Glacier FarmMedia — Genetically modified wheat is moving forward in the United States.
On Sept. 23, the Argentine company that owns the technology signed a deal with the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation (CWRF) to commercialize the drought tolerant wheat in the U.S.
“The agreement combines Bioceres’ proprietary HB4 technology with CWRF’s leadership in U.S. wheat innovation to create a next generation wheat production system,” says a press release announcing the agreement.
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“Bioceres will grant CWRF exclusive, sublicensable rights to the HB4 trait in the U.S. territory.”
Bioceres Crop Solutions was created in Argentina in 2019 to commercialize its HB4 trait for wheat and soybeans.
The transgenic wheat has a drought-tolerant gene that comes from sunflowers and is also tolerant of glufosinate.
Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay have approved the cultivation of HB4 wheat, says ISAAA.org. Other countries, including Australia and New Zealand, have authorized its use in food and feed products.
In August of 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the cultivation of HB4 wheat.
However, American farmers won’t be planting a GM wheat for a while, probably not until 2029, 2030 or later.
“Cultivation approval is different from commercialization,” says a post from Peter Laudeman, director of trade policy with the U.S. Wheat Associates.
Bioceres has to partner with U.S. breeding companies, do field trials and performance verification in U.S. wheat varieties, Laudeman said.
“And perhaps most importantly, export market approvals. This process is likely to take three to five years or more.”
That piece of the puzzle, export market approvals, is a major concern for a country such as Canada. In recent years, Canada has been the third largest exporter of wheat in the world, after Russia and the European Union.
As a result, Canada needs to move carefully on GM wheat.
“Market access is a critical factor for any of those new technologies and especially in Canada. We do have such a high export volume for wheat production that it’s something we’re carefully watching,” Krista Zuzak, director of crop protection and production at Cereals Canada, said last August.
As part of the deal between Bioceres and the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation, the HB4 trait will be made available to public and private wheat breeding programs in the U.S. through an open licensing model.
“This is an important milestone for the wheat industry and sets the stage for long-term innovation in this important crop,” said Brad Erker, executive director of the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation.
“We are proud to support open and inclusive access to HB4 technology and to lead U.S. stakeholder engagement to ensure its responsible rollout.”
