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With the eastern Oregon wheat harvest under way, a federal investigation into the discovery of "Roundup Ready" plants is unresolved.

(Eric Mortenson/The Oregonian)

In the agency's first statement about the genetically-modified wheat investigation in nearly two months, the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said all the evidence collected so far indicates the "Roundup Ready" plants are limited to one field on one Oregon farm.

In a news release, APHIS said it has tested seed and grain samples and interviewed nearly 270 farmers. None of the growers reported seeing glyphosate-resistant plants in their fields, according to APHIS. The information "indicates that the extent of the presence of this GE (genetically-engineered) wheat remains the single detection of the GE wheat plants in one field of one farm in Oregon."

The investigation began when an eastern Oregon farmer, as yet unidentified, reported that wheat plants he'd sprayed with a glyphosate-based herbicide did not die as expected. Testing by Oregon State University and APHIS determined the plants were a Monsanto Co. variety that had been genetically modified to resist glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto's widely used Roundup herbicide.

Monsanto tested the variety at 158 sites in 16 states over several years, but did not pursue commercial development because farmers opposed it. Much of the wheat grown in eastern Oregon, Washington and Idaho is sold to Asian nations that do not want to eat genetically modified food.

APHIS said there is no evidence that rogue wheat entered the commercial stream, but is still trying to figure out how the plants came to be in the field. "We are moving forward with the investigation as expeditiously as possible," the agency said. "As necessary, we will take appropriate remedy measures and enforcement action."

--Eric Mortenson