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Apr. 28, 2010 Agri-Pulse reports: The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday appeared unconvinced by warnings that ending the 2007 temporary ban on planting Monsanto's genetically engineered alfalfa would pose an unacceptable risk to conventional growers and would decimate alfalfa seed exports to Canada, Europe, Japan, New Zealand and other countries concerned about genetically modified organisms (GMO). Hearing arguments in Monsanto Company v. Geertson Seed Farms, some justices appeared skeptical of arguments from attorneys representing Idaho farmer Phil Geertson that even a slight risk to New York City's water supply would justify preventive action such as the 2007 court injunction which halted planting Monsanto's alfalfa. However, Justice Antonin Scalia said contamination of the New York City water supply was not an issue. "It's the creation of plants of genetically engineered alfalfa which spring up that otherwise wouldn't exist. It doesn't even destroy the current plantings of non-genetically engineered alfalfa. This is not the end of the world." Scalia said that at most, ending the ban would make it difficult for those farmers who want to cater to the European market, which will not accept genetically engineered alfalfa." Alfalfa grower Pat Trask, who has 14,000 acres in South Dakota, expressed a different view after the hearing. "It can be the end of conventional alfalfa in this world," he said. "[Monsanto] has admitted in its briefs that as it cross-pollinates." Trask said that alfalfa is considered the "queen of forages" and is one of the biggest protein components of the world's food supply. He claimed that the altered alfalfa protein, representing the lowest level of the food chain, ultimately passes "through into the milk, directly into the sprouts in your sandwiches, directly into the honey." The altered protein, he said, "is having very significant adverse effects." Trask, who sells his seed to Canada, Italy and other foreign markets, says that if his seed becomes mixed with GMO seed as the result of the ban being lifted and GMO alfalfa deregulated, "those markets are gone." Geertson told Agri-Pulse that more than half of U.S. alfalfa seed production is being exported, yet nearly all of export market nations will not accept alfalfa seed that even has a trace of the GMO seed in it. Monsanto attorney Gregory Garre told the justices that there is no evidence of cross-pollination in hay production and that "not a single alfalfa plant in this country is going to be harmed by the addition of Roundup Ready alfalfa." He said the only problem is "psychological objection to genetically engineered alfalfa." Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the sole legal issue before the court is whether USDA's Animal Plant and Animal Health Inspection Service (APHIS) violated federal law by deregulating Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa in 2005 before conducting an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Representing the Justice Department, Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm Stewart called for reauthorizing planting while the EIS is being completed, claiming that interim planning conducted during the "limited period, subject to these proposed protective measures, will not have adverse environmental impact." Attorneys on both sides say that a near-term ruling is needed because it could take another year for USDA to review public comments on the issue and complete the court-ordered EIS now under way. Tweet |
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