President Anthony (PA) opened the meeting at 6.30 pm on 22^nd  March  2021.

 

John Thornton was missing tonight so we had to struggle along without him singing a rousing chorus of Advance Australia Fair! The outcome was satisfactory but nothing special.

 

PA announced that we will have a brief SGM to confirm Board positions for next year as well as our guest speaker tonight.

 

 

PA welcomed our Speaker, Prof Stephen Powles, who will be talking about GM agriculture.

 

He also welcomed Erich Heymann as a guest of Leon Lorenzen.

 

 

There were 15 apologies & Honorary, 9 LOA plus 2 guests hence around 41 people were expected to attend tonight. Actual attendance was 40 giving a 66% attendance for the week.

 

 

 

 

Winners were Mike Snell, John MacK, Michael Bisett, Kim Smith, and David Miller, they were very happy till the Sergeant fined them later on.

 

 

 

       Member’s Birthday - Nil

 

 

      Anniversaries  - Nil

 

 

Wine now available again, 30 cases each of 2013 Cab Sav and 2019 SSB, speak to Russell if you need some.

 

My Home Project Update – 18 units for older single women are almost ready to commence construction, just awaiting the Minister for Lands to sign off, delayed by the election. Once the unit construction is complete, 6 to 9 months, then Rotary will be doing the fit-out including gardens and furniture. This project is budgeted at $95,000.

Tim also announced after much thought and review of prior fundraising efforts that the community services committee has committed to holding an AFL Grand Final raffle this year. Tickets will be $20 each with books of 10 to be sold by members and friends. More details by mid-year.

 

 

Present; (>50% of Members were present which constitutes a Quorum).

 

Apologies; nil

 

 

Nominated: Tim Humphrey

Seconded: Did not record

Passed on a show of hands.

 

2.Other Business - nil

 

3.Close of  SG Meeting

 

 

 

 

The wine table was fined.

Peter Webb received a catch-up fine for his recent birthday.

Peter Robertson was fined for his many real estate for sale signs around the suburb and dubbed the “Soldman” as they all appeared to have sold stickers on them.

Hugh received his fine for having absolutely too much fun organizing the Rotary Centenary Dinner.

Prof Stephen Powles was introduced by Peter Robertson. Stephen gave his speech without slides which were refreshing. He started by stating that several members of our club had caused him significant trauma over the years, notably goalie Graeme Sansom for stopping him from scoring many goals which he was sure he had in the bag, and David Miller for ringing to remind him he was speaking at the club on the next day when David had the date wrong (we can see a fine coming for the latter). Stephen then went on the explain that he has a small farm in Kojanup where he intends to plant a GM crop this year. He noted that another of our members, Kent Warburton, had farmed for many years nearby but had never shown the forward-thinking to move to GM, rather stayed with the old-fashioned sheep farming. In fact, Kent copped a fair roasting from Stephen, I gained the impression that they knew each other quite well from their farming days. Stephen had an interesting life, he chose to leave school at 15 to start earning money for the family. As time went on he realised that his educational aspirations were still there and he continued his education He was forever grateful to have received a Rotary Scholarship at the age of 23 to study in the USA which eventually led to his PhD and the career that he has now. Stephen then moved to the topic of his talk for the evening, the importance of GMO crops in the future of agricultural production. He believes that it will be essential to have the improved productivity that glyphosate resistant crops provide to meet the food demands of the expected peak population of around 10billion people by 2050. GMO crops are common in North and South America with Canola, Corn, Soybean and Cotton used extensively. He is of the belief that only grain crops can solve the likely food shortages because they can be easily transported in bulk. He also noted that wheat was difficult to modify in this way and was unlikely to be grown as a GMO crop. Australia uses less than 40% GMO seed and Europe much less again due to their legislative constraints.

What were Stephen’s views on the recent litigation in USA regards glyphosate being a carcinogen? He stated that there was no scientific data to back these claims despite many prior studies. He was skeptical that a case of this nature could be won in most parts of the world. He felt glyphosate was a safe chemical when used correctly.

 

What were his thoughts on the recent finding that some weeds were becoming immune to glyphosate? He said this was worrying and a sign that it was being overused, not dissimilar to the problem with antibiotics. It was essential that the use of this chemical be strictly controlled to preserve its effectiveness into the future.

 

What were the main arguments against GMO crops? Stephen felt that most of the antagonists were against GMO in principle because it was not a natural product and may unlock something we cannot control. He pointed out that all the crops grown now have been selectively bred to achieve modified traits from the original grasses from which they came. GMO is just another example of this modification. We have been modifying crop species for at least 10,000 years. He stated that few serious scientists oppose GMO crops.

 

Would GMO crops assist in countering climate change? Stephen, they would not but given that CC is likely to reduce the arable land area on Earth then GMO productivity gains would be even more important. He felt that population control would be a key factor in the future of the world and if achievable would reduce the impact of climate change and food insecurity globally.,

 

President Anthony thanked Prof Powles for a very informative and entertaining talk.