A federal court judge in San Francisco on Monday ordered an immediate halt to genetically engineered alfalfa (GE) seed, and ruled that no seed can be planted after March 30.
In 2005, GE alfalfa was the subject of proposed moratorium in Lake County, when an ordinance went before the Board of Supervisors to ban the crop for a 30-month period.
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California made the ruling in the case, which was filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture by several plaintiffs led by the Center for Food Safety, the Sierra Club and Geertson Seed Farms Inc.
The suit alleges that the USDA failed to prepare an environmental impact statement before it deregulated Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa in June 2005. Roundup Ready alfalfa is tolerant of glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide.
In a Feb. 13 decision, Breyer agreed with the suit's plaintiffs, ruling that USDA violated the National Environmental Protection Act by not preparing the necessary environmental studies. Breyer said at that time USDA also had not addressed concerns that Roundup Ready alfalfa could contaminate natural and organic alfalfa.
“For those farmers who choose to grow non-genetically engineered alfalfa, the possibility that their crops will be infected with the engineered gene is tantamount to the elimination of all alfalfa; they cannot grow their chosen crop,” Breyer wrote.
His Monday ruling went further, nullifying USDA's deregulation decision and ruling that genetically engineered alfalfa was, once again, a regulated material.
Breyer ordered all Roundup Ready alfalfa seed sales of to be halted immediately.
“The issue is especially urgent,” Breyer wrote, “because many growers have already planted or are about to plant Roundup Ready alfalfa.”
However, Breyer granted a concession to alfalfa farmers who have already purchased the seed, in order to minimize the harm to them. He ruled that those growers who, as of March 12, already had purchased seed and were preparing to plant before March 30, could go forward with planting. In addition, he said that growers would not be prevented from harvesting, selling or using any alfalfa that has already been planted.
That decision may have come, in part, from arguments from the intervenors in the case – which include Monsanto and Forage Genetics – that growers weren't contractually entitled to refunds on seed that's already been purchased.
For those who hadn't yet bought their Roundup Ready alfalfa seed, Breyer ruled that they could neither buy it nor plant it until after the case reaches a final resolution. In the meantime, Breyer said, they may plant conventional alfalfa seed.
“We are pleased that the judge called for halt to sales of this potentially damaging crop,” said Will Rostov, a senior attorney for the Center for Food Safety. “Roundup Ready alfalfa poses threats to farmers, to our export markets, and to the environment. We expect the USDA to abide by the law and give these harmful effects of the crop full consideration.”
For its part, Monsanto expressed its disappointment Monday at Breyer's ruling.
Company spokesman Andrew Burchett said Monsanto and Forage Genetics International, which collaborated on the development of Roundup Ready alfalfa, have been granted intervenor status in the case, as have several alfalfa farmers.
Burchett said the company looks forward to being able to bring evidence in the case to address concerns about its safety and environmental impacts.
“We want to vigorously defend farmers' access to this technology,” Burchett said.
Burchett said it's Monsanto's understanding that the court may require the USDA to conduct an environmental impact study on Roundup Ready alfalfa.
“We believe an appropriate outcome of this case will address what the court wants done to satisfy the approval process for Roundup Ready (alfalfa) while maintaining farmers' access to the technology,” Burchett said.
He said Monsanto provided an extensive regulatory dossier to USDA before it made its deregulation decision.
Breyer has scheduled oral arguments in the next phase of the case for April 27.
Roundup Ready alfalfa creates local concerns, movement
Roundup Ready alfalfa has been a controversial issue in Lake County.
In 2005, the Coalition for Responsible Agriculture (CRG), a group of Lake County farmers, activists, organizations and other area residents concerned about genetically modified organisms (GMO), led an effort to impose a moratorium on GE alfalfa within the county.
Sarah Ryan is president of Lake County Healthy Environment and Life (HEAL), one of the organizations that played an active part in the CRG effort in 2005. She's also the environmental director for Big Valley Rancheria.
Ryan said CRG proposed that the Board of Supervisors adopt a 30-month moratorium on Roundup Ready alfalfa. One of the moratorium's stipulations would have required University of California, Davis and other institutions that plant test plots of GE crops to reveal the plots' locations, which they currently aren't required to do, Ryan explained.
Among the group's many concerns about GE alfalfa was its ability to affect other plants, said Ryan. In her position with Big Valley Rancheria, she was concerned about GE alfalfa's potential affects on native plants traditionally used by the local tribes.
She said about 200 people signed a petition in support of the 2005 ordinance.
CRG also launched an extensive effort to educate the public and local officials on the subject, she said.
That included meeting with each member of the Board of Supervisors, Ryan added.
“We were asking for prudence,” said Ryan.
The Lake County Farm Bureau opposed the proposed moratorium. Farm Bureau Executive Director Chuck March explained that the Farm Bureau's state policy regarding biotechnology is to support the ability to improve quality and marketability of farm products, and solve environmental and health concerns.
In addition, the Farm Bureau opposes any law or regulation requiring crop registration, March said.
The Farm Bureau was concerned about the GE alfalfa ordinance in Lake County because, as March explained, “We oppose individual cities and counties establishing separate policies on agriculture biotech policy.”
Instead, he said, the Farm Bureau supports constructing a national policy that would be consistent on all levels of government.
A draft ordinance to keep GE alfalfa out of Lake County for 30 months went before the board in late September 2005, and was carried over to the board's Oct. 11, 2005, meeting. The board eventually rejected the ordinance 3-2, with Supervisors Ed Robey and Anthony Farrington voting for the measure.
Despite the proposed moratorium's failure, GE alfalfa doesn't appear to have been planted in Lake County, according to Chuck Morse, the county's deputy agriculture commissioner.
“To my knowledge, there were no growers coming in,” Morse said in a recent interview. “Our acreage of alfalfa production is really pretty small.”
A straw poll of four local seed and feed supply stores showed that none of them sold GE alfalfa seed.
Tim Cooper, manager of Mendocino County Farm Supply in Ukiah, said his store sells a small amount of conventional alfalfa seed – about 100 pounds annually – to Mendocino and Lake County farmers.
Cooper said alfalfa isn't a hugely popular crop locally because of the high water table. He said he's never gotten a request for Roundup Ready alfalfa, in part because Mendocino County has passed its own GMO ordinance.
For Ryan and other CRG members, Monday's ruling re-regulating GE alfalfa was an important piece of news.
“We feel vindicated,” said Ryan.
She added that there's “a very good chance” that, as a result or the court ruling, a GE alfalfa moratorium might once again be proposed locally.
“Certainly with this new information we're quite excited and plan to pursue it,” she said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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