FARGO, N.D. — The Dakota Resource Council is applauding a U.S. appeals court June 24 decision to decline to lift a ban on planting genetically modified alfalfa until the federal government finishes its study on the crop’s impact on conventional crops, the environment and farm economics.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined a request by the Monsanto Co. to rehear the appeal. An earlier court decision found that planting of GM alfalfa should not go forward without the study.
Alfalfa is the fourth-largest crop by acreage in the country.
The suit originally was brought against the United States Department of Agriculture. Monsanto and Forage Genetic intervened in the suit. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s ruling, but the interveners appealed.
Todd Leake, a farmer and Dakota Resource Council member from Emerado, N.D., says, “The decision reaffirms that farmers should have a voice in decisions affecting their livelihoods.” He says Monsanto is trying to take control over alfalfa like the company has done with corn and soybeans. Companies are “trying to patent all the crops they can.”
The decision upholds the May 2007 decision of District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco. Breyer found that USDA had not addressed concerns that Roundup Ready alfalfa would contaminate conventional and organic alfalfa. The Ninth Circuit reaffirms that USDA erred in approving the biotech alfalfa without a full Environmental Impact Statement. USDA has yet to release an EIS, Leake says.
The Center for Food Safety filed suit in February 2006, representing itself and the co-plaintiffs in the suit: Dakota Resource Council, Western Organization of Resource Councils, National Family Farm Coalition, Sierra Club, Beyond Pesticides, Cornucopia Institute, Trask Family Seeds and Geertson Seed Farms.
The DRC since 1978 has been advocating for energy and agriculture policies. WORC is a network of groups similar groups in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Wyoming.
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