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There may not be a better road than highway 206 between Condon and Wasco to get a look at Oregon and Washington's windmils and Oregon wheat fields.

(Jamie Francis/The Oregonian )

Pacific Northwest wheat farmers are counting on their long-term relationships with Asian buyers to ride out the turmoil started when wheat carrying an unapproved "Roundup Ready" gene was discovered growing in an eastern Oregon field.

While they await completion of an investigation by the federal Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, farmers worry that concern over genetically modified crops

could undermine customer confidence in the quality of their wheat or lead to expensive new testing.

Farmers hope the investigation is finished before the Northwest harvest begins in early July, and said APHIS has now assigned 15 investigators to the case, up from nine earlier.

"That means they're hearing the urgency of the matter," said Brett Blankenship, an eastern Washington farmer who is secretary-treasurer of the National Association of Wheat Growers.

"It seems painfully slow," Sherman County grower Darren Padget said of the investigation. "But I would rather wait and make sure we get the right answers."

An APHIS spokesman said the agency has no timeline other than "a timeline of getting it right." Investigators continue to interview area farmers and seed suppliers, and to examine records, he said. They are supported by lab technicians in several locations.

Up to 90 percent of the soft white wheat grown in the Pacific Northwest is exported to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other Asian nations, where it's primarily used to make noodles and crackers. Those countries and the European Union have made it clear they don't want to import genetically modified food, despite U.S. assurances it is safe.

Japan postponed a purchase order of Pacific Northwest wheat last week, and South Korea and the European Union have

called for testing of U.S. wheat.

Conventional farmers generally support continued biotechnology research, but oppose genetically-modified wheat because their customers don't want it. Monsanto Co. developed a wheat variety that resisted glyphosate, the key ingredient in its Roundup herbicide, and field tested it in 16 states, including Oregon, from 1998 to 2005. The last Oregon trials occurred in 2001, according to federal agriculture officials, and Monsanto ultimately withdrew its application to have that variety of wheat approved.

That's what deepened the mystery when an unidentified eastern Oregon farmer reported in April that scattered wheat plants that had popped up in a 125-acre field didn't die when he sprayed them with glyphosate. Oregon State University confirmed the plants carried a gene that conveyed herbicide resistance, and APHIS researchers identified the plants as the variety Monsanto had developed for testing years before.

At the request of the Oregon Wheat Commission, a half-dozen wheat growers assembled in Portland Tuesday to discuss the issue with reporters. They described the discovery as a shock.

"The conversation was, quite literally, 'This is impossible,' " said Blake Rowe, chief executive of the wheat commission. "I can't tell you how many times I heard that this is so improbable, this has got to be a bad test."

Farmers can't explain how the GM wheat ended up in eastern Oregon.

"That's the first question on the farmers' mind, but we don't know," Padget said.

Monsanto maintains that there are no food, animal feed or environmental safety concerns associated with the Roundup Ready trait it developed. It believes the eastern Oregon finding was an "isolated event." Monsanto said it is cooperating with investigators and "our support is aimed at ensuring that the U.S. wheat industry and wheat farmers do not experience disruptions in exports."

In other developments, a Kansas wheat farmer filed suit against Monsanto on Monday, citing the Oregon discovery and alleging the company's "negligence" has already caused wheat prices to drop and damaged export markets.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of farmer Ernest Barnes, alleges Monsanto's goal was to develop and sell wheat that could stand up to its own glyphosate-based herbicides, "thus controlling a substantial part, if not all, of the United States wheat market."

Monsanto dismisses the lawsuit as nonsense.

Meanwhile, the company continues its effort to develop glyphosate-resistant wheat. A federal database maintained by Virginia Tech University indicates Monsanto has ongoing test plots of genetically engineered wheat in Hawaii and North Dakota. Details are scant, but the database indicates the work involves research into a variety of characteristics, including glyphosate resistance at at least one site.

Monsanto says on its website that it has two biotechnology projects for wheat in "early research phases."

It's possible the federal investigation won't discover why

or how

the rogue plants appeared. Oregon wheat growers say, whatever the outcome, they'll be working closely with foreign buyers, many of whom have had relationships with their families for generations.

"We're the quality supplier for the world," Padget said, "and we aim to keep it that way."

--Eric Mortenson