North Dakota Grain Terminal Goes GMO-Free To Meet Consumer Demand

By Amanda Froelich

In North Dakota, agriculture is the state’s leading source of revenue. In fact, almost 90% of the state is occupied by farms and ranches, and the chief agricultural commodity is wheat.

You can be certain, then, that when a company in the northern state invests in a GMO-free grain plant, the food market is taking on a new trend.

GMO-Free Report relays that Captain Drake LLC has acquired a million-bushel terminal with dedicated rail cars that will be used exclusively for the holding and transport of GMO-free grains. The investment is being made to meet the growing demand for non-GM foods in the United States.

Now, big food companies can feel secure purchasing grain they know has not been contaminated with GM varieties.

The private investment firm, Killer Whale Holding, led by Mark Anderson, President of Captain Drake, said the new facility is strategically located to handle the burgeoning demand for non-GM grains.

“By providing growers and end-users this key facility, Captain Drake will consolidate and streamline the sourcing of non-GMO grain in the Red River Valley,” he says. “We will be able to obtain the best non-GMO commodities from three regions: North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba, Canada.”

An additional benefit of the grain terminal is that it will allow non-GMO foods to be sourced locally, rather than be imported.

The business move will no doubt give Captain Drake LLC an advantage over its competition.

Said Anderson:

There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes in the marketplace with big companies going non-GMO. Initially, this was not a direction they really wanted to go into because they didn’t know the availability of non-GMO ingredients. But for the last two years, they have been trying to get a handle on it and changeover (to Non-GMO).

In fact, Anderson projects that “the next big boom in North Dakota won’t be oil, but non-GMO and identity preserved corn and soybeans.”

“The supply chain needs to be tightened up and moved domestically,” he said. “We consider this to be another strategic asset for our food and beverage clients seeking suppliers committed to guaranteeing the integrity and purity of non-GMO commodities throughout the supply chain.”

The facility will also support efforts by food companies interested in switching to non-GMO ingredients.

While the United States and Canada still have no mandatory labeling laws, more than 64 countries around the world do. With 89% of American consumers desiring to know if GMOs are in their food, you can expect this will soon change, too.

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