Canada, Winnipeg: Canadian grain buyers said on May 11 they were relieved the Canadian division of Bayer AG had decided against selling its new fungicide to farmers who grow oats and barley. The chemical, called Stratego, had been approved in Canada for use with wheat, barley and oats, but was only registered in the United States for wheat.

U.S. millers and brewers -- among the biggest buyers of the Canadian crops -- worried that minute traces of the fungicide would turn up in their products, which could lead to massive recalls and consumer alarm about some of America's top food brands. "Avoiding any kind of catastrophic event is going to be beneficial not just for oat processors and oat farmers, but for Bayer as well," said Jim Bair, vice-president of the North American Millers Association, in an interview.

As recently as last week, Bayer officials had said they would sell the fungicide to oat and barley growers in Canada when it arrived in the country this month.

But "a very intense push-back" from the millers' association and its members -- which include ConAgra Foods Inc., General Mills Inc., PepsiCo unit Quaker Oats -- helped convince Bayer officials to change their minds, Bair said. "Consumer perception about safety and wholesomeness is number one, and whatever we need to do to protect our market, protect our brands, is what we will do," Bair said.

In a release, Bayer said Canadian regulators will remove oats and barley from the label of Stratego, which "eliminates any possible agriculture trade irritant with (the) United States." Bayer officials were not immediately available for comment.

Canada ships an average of 550,000 tonnes of malting barley a year to the United States, worth an average of C$75 million. The Canadian Wheat Board, which has a monopoly on western barley exports, said it was relieved by Bayer's change of heart on selling the chemical. "This is a great decision and we welcome this," CWB spokeswoman Louise Waldman said.

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