A study prepared by the University of Illinois concludes that it will not take a radical overhaul of the U.S. grain handling system to meet current EU-required 99% purity levels for non-GMO crops. In the report, ag economist associate professor David Bullock states the grain handling system, with its current storage and transportation facilities, can satisfy the EU standards.

"The increased handling of speciality grains has already led to changes in the U.S. grain handling infrastructure, but these changes have been relatively small," says Bullock. "In any sort of near term, we should not expect to see an overhaul of the grain handling infrastructure, but rather a reshuffling of it." Recent laws passed in the EU which mandate labeling of GM products, present a challenge for U.S. corn and soybean producers, considering the relatively high percentage of GM crop acreage grown in the U.S. "If consumers strongly reject products labeled as GMO, then we can expect that market signals will be created that encourage the segregation of non-GMO grain from genetically modified grain, and that the identity of non-GMO grain must be preserved," Bullock said.

The study concludes the current U.S. grain handling system can deal with segregation requirements without building a whole new infrastructure and junking the existing one. "Currently, it seems that a major cost in non-GMO segregation and identity preservation does not come from cleaning grain handling machinery or testing, but rather from the 'reshuffling of the grain handling system," Bullock said. "Rather than incur the expense of frequently cleaning out grain elevator components, grain handlers are instead dedicating already-separated grain handling paths to either GMOs or non-GMOs."

In addition, Bullock said such changes imply that farmers might have to transport their grain a few more miles to find an elevator that receives the particular type of grain the farmer is selling. "This reshuffling of elevator uses does have a cost to the farmer and the system. But evidently this cost is much lower than would be the cost of building a whole new infrastructure," he says.

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