And non-GM producers looking to market their product specifically as GM-free will be pleased to know that moves towards a fee for testing to prove canola was GM-free have been abandoned.

“We have managed to negotiate with crushers and get an outcome that is good for growers, with no fees incurred for testing on the canola’s GM status,” said GrainCorp’s corporate affairs manager David Ginns.

The set-up for GM deliveries will be different to last year, when a handful of GM sites were put in across NSW and Victoria.

This year, there will be two canola segregations, CS01, for all canola varieties, including GM, and CS01A, which is for non-GM canola.

Mr Ginns said there would be a number of strategic CS01 sites across the two states where GM canola is permitted, targetting the areas where the crop is being produced on the largest scale.

“We have a good idea, through working with Monsanto and its seed distribution partners, as to where the crop will be grown and how much there will be.”

Mr Ginns said it was estimated there would be a substantial increase in the amount of GM canola produced in Australia this year, a combination of markedly increased acreages and a better season.

“Last year we took around 7000 tonnes altogether, whereas this year we could conservatively expect to get around ten times that much.”

However, he said that given that the GM production areas were relatively closely concentrated, there would still be a large number of non-GM sites across the GrainCorp network.

“We will be looking to give growers choice,” he said.