[ti:US Finds Unapproved Form of Wheat in Oregon] [ar:Milagros Ardin] [al:Agriculture Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:01.98]this is the Agriculture Report. [00:05.57]Some countries have suspended imports of wheat [00:08.95]from the United States. [00:11.04]This suspensions were announced [00:13.34]after an unapproved form of wheat was found [00:17.52]in the American state of Oregon. [00:21.16]The crop was made through processes of genetic engineering. [00:26.88]An Oregon farmer recently discovered wheat in his field [00:31.92]that survived the popular weed killer Roundup. [00:37.61]Roundup is designed to destroy unwanted plants. [00:42.69]It is a product of the seed and chemical company Monsanto. [00:48.43]The company has created genetically engineered corn, [00:53.70]cotton, soybean and canola crops that resist Roundup. [01:01.52]Monsanto had field-tested Roundup-resistant wheat. [01:07.30]But it never sought government approval of the wheat [01:12.39]and the seed were never sold. [01:15.57]Michael Firko is with the United States Department of Agriculture, [01:21.40]he says the wheat had passed safety inspections. [01:26.03]"Although there are no wheat varieties [01:28.12]that are approved for unrestricted planting, [01:31.27]we have no safety concerns related [01:33.90]to planting of this transgenic wheat at this time." [01:36.75]Monsanto ended its wheat project mainly [01:40.75]because buyers in Europe and Asia were concerned [01:45.54]about the safety of genetically engineered crops. [01:51.11]The discovery of unapproved wheat in Oregon [01:55.34]led Japan and South Korea to suspend some imports, [02:01.33]at least temporarily. [02:03.76]Mark Welch is an agricultural economist at Texas A&M University. [02:11.99]He says American Farmers do not want [02:16.61]to produce genetically engineered wheat [02:20.16]because there is no demand for it. [02:24.24]he also says the incident could affect America's standing [02:30.72]in a competitive world marketplace. [02:34.75]The United States is the world's largest wheat exporter. [02:40.68]Mark Welch says American agriculture [02:44.42]already has difficulty competing against other countries [02:50.95]because production costs are higher in the United States. [02:57.22]"If we're going to maintain a place in world markets, [03:01.56]we have to do it primarily on two fronts: [03:03.75]one on quality, and the other on reliability. [03:07.68]And this raises a red flag, of course, [03:10.82]when something like this happens." [03:12.01]Right now it is not clear how the incidents happened. [03:17.00]American officials are working to identify [03:20.88]where the genetically engineered wheat came from. [03:25.62]There is no evidence yet that it has entered the food supply, [03:31.09]However, the Agriculture Department [03:34.18]is working to make tests available to buyers. [03:39.21]Prices of wheat on world markets have changed little [03:43.65]since the discovery of the unapproved wheat. [03:47.55]But this could change after the investigation is completed. [03:53.52]And that's the Agriculture Report, [03:56.02]I'm Milagros Ardin.