By Simone Dalton

The grain depot at Lubeck, near Murtoa in Victoria, has received its first
GM canola.

Graincorp southern division manager Jack Tansley said deliveries at the GM
site had started but he could not say how much canola had been stored.

"There are lots of controls in place and that has been going along quite
well," Mr Tansley said.

But the harvest has also been embroiled in controversy with concerns about
GM canola blowing out of a paddock and across the Wimmera Highway near
Horsham.

Cropwatch organised a community clean-up along the highway last week after
reports canola had blown out of windrows.

The crop has since been harvested.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Rural Sciences said insect-resistant GM cotton had
allowed farmers to cut spraying by 85 per cent.

"Access to GM-cotton crops has made a significant contribution to the
industry's sustainable management of insect pests and weeds, and to the
environment," the bureau's executive director Karen Schneider said.

"GM canola varieties potentially offer Australian farmers increased yield
and greater choice of weed control options, including more environmentally
friendly herbicides," she said.
www.checkbiotech.org