Deadline to comment on sale of genetically altered alfalfa nears

Monsanto appears to be in the final stages of a years-long fight to market a genetically altered alfalfa that was federally approved in 2005, but whose sales were quickly put on hold by a federal court.

After an Idaho alfalfa-seed farmer sued, saying the crop would take over the world alfalfa market, a judge told the U.S. Department of Agriculture to look more closely at the environmental implications.

The result is a 1,476-page analysis by the USDA, its most detailed look ever at the possible environmental impact of a genetically engineered crop. The agency is taking public comments on the analysis through Wednesday evening, after which it is expected to make a decision about whether Roundup Ready alfalfa can be marketed again.

The agency's preliminary conclusion is that there would be "no significant impact on the human environment" from approving the crop.

Roundup is one of the country's most popular weed killers, used by big farmers and small gardeners alike.

"It will kill anything that's green," said Monsanto spokesman Garrett Kasper.

Anything, that is, except genetically altered crops that can resist glyphosate, Roundup's active ingredient. Monsanto already sells "Roundup Ready" corn, soybeans and cotton.

Roundup Ready alfalfa was on the market briefly beginning in 2005 and can still be grown on the 200,000 acres that were initially planted nationwide. A court halted further sales until the USDA's environmental analysis is completed, a decision Monsanto questioned in a separate case that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court later this year.

Sugar-beet farmers are seeking a similar injunction against Roundup Ready sugar beets in federal court this week.

After decades in use, the glyphosate in Roundup is a well-studied chemical.

"As far as herbicides go, there's nothing safer than Roundup," Kasper said, pointing to evidence that it breaks down quickly after application and leaves no residue in the genetically modified plants that are sprayed.

Other studies refute that, saying there are toxic residues. For alfalfa farmers, the issue is less about health than their livelihoods.

Some like the idea of a Roundup option for killing weeds, having seen how it increased yields for corn and soybean farmers.

Others worry the seed will spread and force farmers to use Roundup, which may not be accepted in some foreign markets. "This is a horrible thing that is happening," said Phil Geertson, owner of Geertson Seed Farms in Green Leaf, Idaho, the lead plaintiff opposing Monsanto.

He thinks the world's alfalfa supply could be taken over by the Roundup Ready strain more easily than corn or soybeans.

Alfalfa is perennial, unlike other Roundup Ready crops, which means it does not have to be replanted each year and could be contaminated by bees that pollinate both kinds of fields, he said.

It also grows wild in ditches and has hard seeds that can survive droughts and other calamities, making a Roundup Ready alfalfa crop particularly difficult to contain, he said.

Critics also worry about how more widespread use of Roundup will affect weeds.

"There's a huge epidemic of glyphosate-resistant weeds, and Roundup Ready alfalfa will just make matters much worse," said Bill Freese, science-policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety, one of many nonprofit groups that backed Geertson in his legal battle with the USDA and Monsanto.

"It puts farms on a pesticide treadmill of using glyphosate," he said.

Bob Haberman, owner of Double H-J Farm near Ellensburg, is one of the few farmers who planted Roundup Ready alfalfa before the court's injunction. He has about 205 acres of it.

Although a USDA survey from 1998 found that alfalfa growers use herbicides on just 7 percent of their acres, it varies widely by state. Haberman says he uses less than other alfalfa farmers in his area because of how effective Roundup is.

"It's not this purge or scourge of the Earth from a scientific standpoint," Haberman said. "It has been altered, but we altered Nu-Gains wheat by selecting a plant breed. Our technology and agriculture, that's what made us a great agriculture country."

He sells most of his alfalfa to Japan, which receives almost 75 percent of all U.S. alfalfa exports.

The U.S. produced $8 billion in alfalfa last year, making it the fourth most valuable crop after corn, soybeans and wheat. Much of the crop — a type of hay — is used as feed by the domestic dairy industry, but some West Coast growers export a large portion of their crop to Asia.

Many countries, including Japan and those in the European Union, approve the growth and import of some genetically modified crops but are touchy about unapproved strains.

When word got out several years ago that genetically altered rice had contaminated other fields, Japan and the European Union moved to ban U.S. rice, leading to a plunge in rice prices and a drop in U.S. rice exports.

In recent months, U.S. courts have awarded $3.5 million to the rice farmers whose crops were contaminated by the strain, which was being tested by Bayer CropScience of Germany. Bayer said a USDA investigation was unable to find how the strain entered the rice supply.

Even approved crops are not always accepted by consumers and feedlots. In its draft environmental-impact statement, the USDA says there are signs that although Japan has approved the import of Roundup Ready alfalfa, U.S. exports of alfalfa to Japan might fall if the USDA approves it.

Monsanto says alfalfa is cut before pollination, dramatically lowering the chances of crops being cross-pollinated.

"Scientific studies show that, despite dramatic claims that it can happen, the odds are extremely low," Kasper said.

He and others say that if good farming practices are followed, conventional and organic crops can thrive in the same area as Roundup Ready crops without being taken over.

Those protocols are why Drex Gauntt, president of the Washington State Hay Growers Association, says he no longer has concerns that the USDA might allow Monsanto to market Roundup Ready alfalfa again.

His group publicly opposed Roundup Ready alfalfa several years ago. Now, he said, "there are more safeguards in place."

Still, Gauntt said, he does not plan to use Roundup Ready alfalfa in his fields. He exports most of his crop to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other countries. "The governments of those countries have approved Roundup Ready hay, but my customers don't want it," he said. "There's still a stigma."

Melissa Allison: 206-464-3312 or mallison@seattletimes.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.