Idaho sugar beet farmers troubled by judge's GMO decision

The state's sugar beet growers say it will be difficult to find enough conventional seeds for their crops after a federal judge revoked government approval of genetically modified seeds.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White issued a ruling Friday halting the use of the genetically modified seeds until an environmental impact study is completed.

Amalgamated Sugar chairman Duane Grant said the impact of the decision on farmers in Idaho, Washington and Oregon will be significant. He emphasized that the ban isn't permanent; instead, decisions on future planting will be handled by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.

"We anticipate that sometime between now and next planting season that APHIS will evaluate the position of the sugar industry and determine whether its in the best interest of the public to allow the interim planting of biotech beet seeds pending the completion of the environmental impact statement," Grant said.

A large portion of sugar beet farmers use the modified seeds developed by Monsanto Co. They are designed to resist the company's weed killer, Roundup.

"I'm really concerned because I really don't think its possible to go back to the conventional way of raising sugar beets," said Drew Eggers, a Meridian farmer for 33 years with 100 acres of sugar beets. "Its just not feasible."

Eggers and other farmers have concerns over the availability and cost of conventional sugar beet seeds.

Sid Freeman, a third-generation Canyon County farmer, grows 60 acres of sugar beets on his farm north of Caldwell.

"There's not enough seed available in the non-GMO (genetically modified organism) varieties to plant all the acres that would be put into sugar beets," Freeman said.

Both men are part of the Snake River Co-op, and their sugar beets go to the grower-owned Nampa Amalgamated Sugar plant.

Freeman says some sugar may have to be imported to meet demand if farmers can't plant enough conventional sugar beet seed. Those farmers who can get the conventional seed will have to use different herbicides, which Freeman says are less effective.

Statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that about 164,000 acres of sugar beets were planted in Idaho in 2009. Nationally, about 1 million acres are expected to be affected by the new restriction.

---

Information from: The Idaho Press-Tribune, http://www.idahopress.com