Canola Prices - Non-GMO vs. GMO CanolaHey Brym,
Good questions and one worth looking into. I did a little research for you tonight to back up my thoughts. I will give you a Backgrounder first:
BACKGROUND:
To be honest, I always find the whole discussion of Non-GMO vs GMO Canola a bit misleading. The reason why, Canola itself was originally genetically modified by making it a hybrid variety of Rapeseed
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola This would also apply to other crops such as Corn and Soybeans. Each year new varities are created by cross breeding certain varities for improved characteristics such as Yield, Oil Yield, Drought resistance etc. We would not have the progress in Agriculture without these types of developments.
The wikipedia article does a decent job of explaining the history of Canola. It also points out the majority of Canola in Alberta, SK and Manitoba are genetically modified (GM). Canola is 90% Genetically Modified, I chuckle because to me I consider all Canola GM.
GMO's have been proven to be safe
https://www.nongmoproject.org/retailers/about-gmos/
In terms of how the market and general population views this. They consider Canola GM if it is resistant to Herbicide. Non-GMO Canola is called "Identity Preserved". GM, simply means that farmers can spray the Canola crop while it is growing with Glyphosate. Glyphosate esssentially starves the weeds (non-essential plants) from moisture and cause them to wither and die. Glyphosate is in a chemical spray product called RoundUp made by Monsanto (
https://www.monsanto.ca/weed_control/ag_herbicides/roundup/default.asp). There are now other brands in Canada available.
Mosanto created a Canola seed variety that was resistant to Glyphosate by cross-breeding with a strain to create this resistant. It became a major game changer because farmers could allow their crops to grow, become established before spraying their crops with RoundUp to kill the rest of the weeds. Yields increased.
From what I gather, BXI is using Non-GM or Identity Preserved Canola through Viterra
https://www.nongmoproject.org/2010/09/28/viterra-offers-first-non-gmo-project-verified-canola-oil/
QUESTIONS:
1. Is there much of a premium price /bu for Non-GMO vs. GMO canola? If so, what percent?
There is a premium. I will talk to my clients to find out what that premium currently is. Viterra for example has seperate pricing, Identity Preserved contracts, but I do not know what the pricing is. I can find out for you.
2. Any ideas on what percent of the Non-GMO or even GMO seeds would contain protiens?
-All plant material has protein. I would assume (but could be wrong) that Non-GMO and GMO seeds will have very similiar protein levels.