Beet growers bemoan GM seed ban

WELLINGTON – Like most of his fellow Northern Colorado sugar beet farmers, Richard Seaworth is perplexed and saddened by an August court ruling that forbids the planting of genetically modified beets next spring.

On Aug. 13, Federal District Court Judge Jeffrey White ruled that the U.S. government erred in its approval of genetically modified sugar beets. White revoked that approval and ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prepare an environmental impact statement and approve the crop again, a process that could take up to two years or more.

“We’re obviously disappointed and really don’t know where we go from here,´ said Seaworth, a Wellington-area farmer whose family has been growing sugar beets since 1929. “People are starving around the world and they’re trying to cut our production, and that is sad.”

The judge made his ruling in a case filed in 2008 by the Center for Food Safety, an environmental organization that claimed the genetically modified sugar beets were not adequately tested for human consumption and potential environmental risks before they were deregulated by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

The genetically modified beets were developed by Monsanto, which made them immune to its Roundup herbicide. Beets that are “Roundup Ready” are able to grow strong while weeds around them die off after the herbicide is applied.

The net effect is higher yields with less water, fuel savings from fewer trips through fields to kill weeds and lower labor costs than if the weeds had to be manually removed.

Since the GM beets were first approved for use in the United States in 2005, about 95 percent of the sugar beets grown in the nation have been that variety.

The only good news for farmers in White’s decision was that sugar beets already planted and ready for harvest next month can be sold and processed into sugar.

Luther Markwart, executive director of the American Sugar Beet Growers Association, said the court decision has thrown his industry into a state of confusion and uncertainty. Markwart would not comment on any legal strategy the association may be considering, only saying “we’re proceeding forward in other avenues to try and find a way to have access to the (GM) technology.”

Markwart said the issue is currently up to APHIS, which could order a partial or conditional deregulation of the GM beets and allow their planting next April.

“It’s now in APHIS’ hands to look at how to move forward,” he said.

But having to wait two years or more to complete an environment impact statement before being allowed to plant GM seed would be devastating to sugar beet farmers, he noted.

“The USDA has told the court that it could be May 2012 before the EIS would be ready,” Markwart said. “But what do you do in the two years between now and then?”

Turn back the clock

Markwart noted that the decision – if it stands – could “turn back the clock” for sugar beet growers. First comes the problem of finding non-GM sugar beet seed to plant -virtually impossible since little new seed has been grown in the last two to three years.

“If you can even get conventional seed it would be two to three years old, so its viability is a question,” he said.

Then there’s been the movement from old-style weed sprayers and cultivators to new, Roundup Ready-oriented equipment that the majority of growers have purchased in the last few years.

“We bought new equipment and all of this is much better for the environment,” he said. “If we’re not able to plant GM seed, we’d have to find conventional seed and go out and buy the old equipment to plant it.”

Finally, finding the old-style herbicides for conventional sugar beets would be problematic, Markwart noted. “That market has evaporated,” he said.

“You put all of that together and you’re going to close factories and there are companies that could go under as a result of this,” he said.

In short, the American sugar industry would be significantly diminished, resulting in more foreign sugar imports.

That’s ironic in a year when area sugar beet crops are looking healthy and the price of sugar is strong, according to Seaworth.

“We’re looking good, with an above-average crop,” he said.

Seaworth said he believes GM sugar beets have already proven themselves to be safe and a benefit to farmers and the environment.

“As a farmer, we’re not here to harm anybody,” he said. “Nothing leaves here that I or my children wouldn’t eat.”

Steve Porter covers agribusiness and natural resources for the Northern Colorado Business Report. He can be reached at 970-232-3147 or at sporter@ncbr.com.

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