Several counties in California have banned growing genetically engineered crops and livestock, and about 100 towns in New England have passed resolutions supporting limits on genetically engineered crops.
In Nebraska, a bill aimed at assuring Nebraska towns and counties don’t stray into those kinds of bans is moving through the Legislature.
The bill (LB263), which would make certain state law is pre-eminent and that it overrides city and county regulations of seed or fertilizer, gained first-round approval Wednesday.
Sen. Kent Rogert of Tekamah said his bill would allow senators and experts at the state Department of Agriculture to control regulation seed and fertilizer regulation, rather than county commissioners.
Nebraska has no county or state regulations governing seed or fertilizer now, and the measure is intended to head off problems that could occur if counties started trying to regulate.
“We are trying to say we are going to have the same laws when it comes to seed and fertilizer application,” Rogert said of the bill, which came to him from the Nebraska Agribusinesses Association.
Pre-emptive seed bills in other states have been supported by agribusiness councils and Farm Bureau chapters, according to a Vermont GE Free organization.
Most senators couched their praise of Rogert’s bill in broad generic terms. But a few acknowledged the genetic engineering connection.
Nebraska needs to double its food production in the next 20 years to help feed the world, said Sen. Tom Carlson of Holdrege, chairman of the Agriculture Committee.
Genetically modified seeds will allow this to happen, he said.
“I think we are taking a proactive step,” he said.
Several senators said they were uncomfortable approving a bill without clear problems, but the measure gained 35-2 first-round approval.
The potential problem in fertilizer is that communities might want to regulate the movement of anhydrous ammonia, Rogert said.
Eighteen states have passed pre-emptive seed laws and 13 states have pre-emptive fertilizer laws, he said.
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