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 Agriculture Agency Approves Planting of Modified Alfalfa

By ANDREW POLLACK

Published: January 27, 2011  New York Times

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced on Thursday that he would authorize the unrestricted commercial cultivation of genetically modified alfalfa, setting aside a controversial compromise that had generated stiff opposition.

In making the decision, Mr. Vilsack pulled back from a novel proposal that would have restricted the growing of genetically engineered alfalfa to protect organic farmers from so-called biotech contamination. That proposal had drawn criticism at a recent Congressional hearing and in public forums where Mr. Vilsack had outlined the option.
Mr. Vilsack said Thursday that his department would take other measures, such as conducting research and promoting dialogue, to make sure that pure non-engineered alfalfa seed would remain available.
“We want to expand and preserve choice for farmers,” he told reporters. “We think the decision reached today is a reflection of our commitment to choice and trust.
Mr. Vilsack in recent months has been calling for “co-existence” between growers of genetically engineered crops, organic farmers and non-organic farmers growing crops that have not been genetically altered.
Organic farmers can lose sales if genetic engineering is detected in their crops, which occurs either through cross-pollination from a nearby field or from intermingling of seeds. And exports of non-organic but non-engineered crops to certain countries can be jeopardized if genetically engineered material is detected in significant amounts.
The genetically modified crop, developed by Monsanto and Forage Genetics, an alfalfa breeder that is owned by the Land O’Lakes dairy cooperative, contains a gene that makes the plant resistant to the herbicide Roundup. That allows farmers to spray the chemical to kill weeds without hurting the crop.
Alfalfa is grown mostly to make hay that is fed to dairy cows and horses. More than 20 million acres are grown in the United States, making it the nation’s fourth-largest crop by acreage behind corn, soybeans and wheat.
In deciding whether to approve the genetically engineered alfalfa, the Agriculture Department was considering restricting areas where the crop could be planted. That, Mr. Vilsack argued, would help prevent litigation, like the lawsuits that have already delayed the approval of genetically altered alfalfa and sugar beets.
“The rapid adoption of G.E. crops has clashed with the rapid expansion of demand for organic and other non-G.E. products,” Mr. Vilsack wrote in an open letter issued by his department in January. “This clash led to litigation and uncertainty. Such litigation will potentially lead to the courts deciding who gets to farm their way and who will be prevented from doing so.”
But the proposal ran into considerable opposition in Congress and from farm groups and biotechnology companies.
They argued that since the Agriculture Department’s environmental impact statement had concluded that growing the alfalfa would be safe, the government was obligated to allow it to be grown without restrictions.
Introducing restrictions based on economic consequences of pollen drift or consumer preferences would be unscientific, they said.
The proposal “politicizes the regulatory process and goes beyond your statutory authority,” Representative Frank Lucas, an Oklahoma Republican who is the new chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, wrote to Mr. Vilsack on Jan. 19, before holding a hearing on the proposals the next day. The letter was written by Republican Senators Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Pat Roberts of Kansas.
In the news conference Thursday, Mr. Vilsack at one point said the department did have the authority to restrict planting. But at another point he said of the decision to allow unrestricted planting: “We are working within the statutory and regulatory system we have available to us.” Critics of planting restrictions said they were concerned that the approach used in alfalfa would eventually be extended to other crops causing restrictions on growing of corn, soybeans and cotton, the vast majority of which are already genetically engineered.
“It’s like a Pandora’s box,” said Keith Menchey, director of science and environmental issues for the National Cotton Council of America. “If you open that up, then everybody who’s got a particular preference one way or another, you have to make accommodations.”
Critics also said that the growing of alfalfa based on pollen drift concerns would undermine Washington’s efforts to get other countries to accept genetically modified crops. The government has long argued that if the crops are determined to be safe, then prohibiting their cultivation or import just because consumers do not want them violates international trading rules.
Organic growers and food companies generally supported restrictions on planting of the biotech crop. But they also wanted a mechanism set up to compensate organic growers who lose sales because of contamination from biotech crops.
The Agriculture Department first approved the commercial planting of the genetically engineered alfalfa in 2005. But various groups representing alfalfa seed producers and environmental groups opposed to biotech crops sued. In 2007 a federal judge vacated the approval, saying the Agriculture Department had not adequately assessed the environmental impacts of the biotech crop, including the possible effect on organic and conventional farmers. The judge ordered the department to do a full environmental impact statement.
The draft environmental impact statement was released in December, 2009. The final version, more than 2,300 pages long, was released this past December. It said the Department would decide between two options — allowing unrestricted commercial growing or partially restricted growing.
That latter option, which the department said it had added based on public input, would have prohibited growing the biotech alfalfa on about 20 percent of current alfalfa acreage nationwide, and more in Western states, where most alfalfa seed is produced.
Although genetic engineering cannot be used in organic agriculture, an organic farmer would not lose certification under federal rules just because some genetically engineered pollen accidentally drifted onto his field, just as he would not lose certification if pesticide drifted in from a nearby field.
But some organic growers say their customers are stricter than the federal government and will reject shipments if even trace amounts of genetically modified material are detected.