Source: CSIRO Media Release – 18 December 2017

Following the submission of a CSIRO report funded by the Australian Oilseed Federation (AOF) members and the Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC), the European Commission has confirmed Australian canola meets strict new feedstock requirements for EU biodiesel.

To meet its own greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, Europe would have shut its doors to Australian canola from 1 January 2018 unless Australian farmers demonstrated that they grow low-emission canola…

“The EU market is too valuable to lose for Australian canola growers. In 2016/17, Australian canola exports to the EU were typically worth over $1.0 billion, with nearly all those exports being used for biodiesel production,” Mr Goddard said. [Read more…]

Source: Stock & Land – 16 December 2017

Groups against genetically modified (GM) food crops are protesting against a proposal from the Office of the Gene Technology (OGTR) to alter the regulatory status of a series of new plant breeding techniques…However, Matthew Cossey, chief executive of CropLife, Australia’s plant science peak body, welcomed the proposed changes…“The move to clarify the regulations by the OGTR will provide some level of certainty for researchers and industry and will enable innovative agricultural tools to be made available to Australia’s farmers in a more timely manner.” [Read more…]

Source: Genetic Literacy Project – 08 December 2017

Gene editing technology, particularly the technique called CRISPR, is expected to accelerate the introduction of new crops. This involves making very precise changes to the DNA already present in the plant, unlike conventional GM technology which introduces new genes. As a consequence, the agricultural biotechnology industry hopes it will be subject to lighter regulation, particularly in Europe. To demonstrate the power of CRISPR in plant breeding, scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the US recently edited the tomato genome in three different ways to make three distinct changes in the way the plant grows: its fruit size, branching pattern and overall shape. [Read more…]