European Farmers Turn to GM Feed to Replace Corn From Ukraine

(Bloomberg) -- European farmers are set to buy more genetically modified animal feed from the U.S. and South America after Russia's invasion cut off corn shipments from Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine is already pushing companies to turn to alternatives to sunflower oil, and that shift in trade flows is also likely to include corn, which is mainly used as animal feed. Ukraine's non-GM corn accounts for about half the European Union's imports. However, 92% of U.S. corn is GM, according to the Center for Food Safety, with similar levels in Brazil.

While companies in the EU don't have to label meat or products from animals fed GM crops, over the past decade, consumer demand has increased for dairy produce from cows fed with the non-GM variety.

As the EU shifts to shoring up food security, it's relaxing import rules. In Spain, which is expecting corn shipments from the U.S., Argentina and Brazil over the next two weeks, the government is temporarily allowing imports with traces of pesticides to compensate for the loss of Ukraine output.

That will help to avoid shortages, said a spokesperson for CESFAC, the association of feed makers in Spain, one of Ukraine's biggest customers, along with the Netherlands.

The price of corn and other grains have surged in the wake of Russia's invasion. Ukraine had exported about 6.6 million tons of corn to the EU by the end of March, compared with a five-year average of 7.2 million tons.

Strategie Grains head Andree Defois forecasts that the EU will import 800,000 tons of U.S. corn this season, the most since 2017-18.

“Some farmers in central Europe and Denmark are starting to run out of non-GMO feed,” Ase Andersson, global head of media at dairy giant Arla, said in an email.

With assistance from Bloomberg