Biotechnology’s introduction into the wheat crop is necessary for the wheat industry to increase productivity, attract acres back to the crop and feed a growing global population in a sustainable way.

NAWG’s policy in this area is formulated by the NAWG and U.S. Wheat Associates Joint Biotechnology Committee and approved by the NAWG Board of Directors.

Wheat producers’ official statements on wheat biotechnology are outlined in the NAWG and U.S. Wheat Associates Biotechnology Position Statement (approved February 2006) and Principles for Commercialization (last revised in November 2008).

The Case for Biotech Wheat

In September 2009, five wheat industry organizations released “The Case for Biotech Wheat,” an eight-page paper outlining the competitiveness problem facing global wheat production and the wheat industry itself. The paper explains why this matters for the entire food chain – wheat growers, wheat users at home and abroad, and consumers in the industrialized and developing worlds.

Trilateral Statement of Support

In May 2009, nine grower groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia – three of the world’s largest producers and exporters of wheat – released a joint statement saying they would work toward the goal of synchronized commercialization of biotech traits in their wheat crops. See the full statement here.

Biotech Petition

More than three-quarters of wheat growers responding to a recent NAWG survey approved a petition supporting the commercialization of biotechnology in wheat. For more, click here. Also, an extensive analysis of comments included in survey responses, click here.

Forward Movement

Monsanto, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences and others have recently made announcements concerning renewed research efforts in wheat that could lead to biotech traits. See a wheat industry statement concerning these announcements here.

Wheat Summit

NAWG and the North American Millers’ Association have hosted two sessions of the Wheat Summit, meant to bring together partners throughout the wheat chain to discuss wheat’s ongoing competitiveness challenges, including a lack of access to biotechnology. For more on that process, please visit our Competitiveness Web page.