Wheat Summit 2009

The third Wheat Summit brought together representativesof all aspects of the wheat chain - from input providers to retail establishments that sell wheat products.

The wheat industry is a decade away from seeing the first biotech wheat in commercial production anywhere in the world. This past October, world wheat leaders met in Kansas City, Mo. to address what the industry is doing to turn the tide of acceptance and how they believe biotechnology can play a role in achieving robust yield growth goals over the next decade.

Representatives of all different sectors, ie: wheat breeders, technology transfer directors from public universities, international collaborators, including those from Canada and Australia, attended the summit as talks about wheat’s competiveness and biotechnology issues were discussed.

 “The goal is to have inclusive process input from everyone to get a win-win situation and to take care of everyone along the way,” says Darin Coppock, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG). “Biotechnology is part of the answer but is not the only answer. What we are looking for in the near term is the advances of employing biotech tools, marker selections and things like that, improvements in fertility, improvements in nitrogen yields, whatever we can get along the way. But I think what brought the whole industry together is the overall concern that if we don’t do something with yields and productivity in wheat, the long term supply is going to be an issue.

”The United Nations wants to double the global food production between now and 2050 and looking at the current long term yield trends in wheat acres and production, the global wheat industry is on a steady 30-year downtrend. “Something has to change, otherwise there is going to be a serious problem down the road,” says, Betsy Faga, President of the North American Millers' Association, the trade association of the wheat, corn, oat and rye milling industry.

What are some of the first traits that wheat summit group would see advancing coming into the industry? Productivity and stress tolerance traits and more specifically, drought tolerance were sent to the top of the list. It gives the group a really good platform for a tri-lateral collaboration because the Australians are desperate for a solution for drought tolerant wheat and the Canadian prairie providences would like to see a drought trait also. 

One of the biggest issues the Wheat Summit has to work on in the next several years is the acceptance from world wheat importers. Coppock is eager to discuss technology with them. “We have to ask them, ‘How do we do produce more with less, ie: less water, less fertilizer, less whatever without new technology?’

“We need to lay the case in front of them and really demonstrate to customers that this is in everyone’s interest, not just producers or another segment trying to push something off on everyone. This will be a win-win for everyone,” says Coppock.