Bitter fight developing over sugar beets
Virtually the entire sugar beet crop in the United States is genetically engineered to protect it from herbicides. Now, a lawsuit claiming the biotech beets pose a risk to other varieties could threaten sugar production. Mitchell Hartman reports.
A sugar beet in the ground ready for harvest (iStockPhoto)
More on Food
Links
- The Center for Food Safety
Plaintiff in Center for Food Safety v. Vilsack - Organic Seed Alliance
Plaintiff in Center for Food Safety v. Vilsack - High Mowing Seeds
Plaintiff in Center for Food Safety v. Vilsack - Sierra Club
Plaintiff in Center for Food Safety v. Vilsack - Earthjustice
Representing plaintiffs in Center for Food Safety v. Vilsack - Monsanto
Intervenor in federal district court - Betaseed
Intervenor in federal district court - Syngenta
Intervenor in federal district court - American Sugarbeet Growers Association
Intervenor in federal district court - Amalgamated Sugar Company LLC
Intervenor in federal district court
Frank Morton runs Wild Garden Seeds in Philomath, Ore. He's on the board of the Organic Seed Alliance, which sued the USDA over genetically engineered Roundup Ready sugar beets.
TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: The most heavily-traded futures contract in New York today was not oil. It wasn't gold. You'll probably never guess, so I'll just go ahead and give you the answer: Sugar was the hot commodity today as traders backed it down off 28-year highs. Rumors of a big purchase by the Indian government helped drive that.
Here in this country more than half our sugar comes from beets. From a beet crop that is almost entirely genetically modified. Organic farmers and food-safety advocates are suing to keep that crop out of the ground this coming spring. From the Marketplace Entrepreneurship Desk at Oregon Public Broadcasting, Mitchell Hartman reports.
MITCHELL HARTMAN: If the Midwest is the nation's breadbasket, then Oregon's Willamette Valley might be called its "seed basket."
FRANK MORTON: The Willamette Valley is a world-class place to grow seeds. We have good soils, ample water. But really it's the climate. It's a dry summer and a mild, moist winter.
Frank Morton came here as a young man from West Virginia and quickly got into farming. He now runs Wild Garden Seed, which produces 150 varieties of organic seeds. He showed me around his drying shed, piled high with escarole, peppers and table beets.
MORTON: My workers are over here sowing seed flats with my Bull's Blood beet, MacGregor's beet.
Morton's organic seed farm is tiny: five acres and a greenhouse. There are 5,000 acres of commercial sugar-beet seed planted across this valley. Nationwide, sugar beets are a $3 billion crop. And nearly all of those beets are genetically engineered to resist an herbicide called Roundup.
It's made by Monsanto, and when it's used on Roundup-ready plants like corn, alfalfa and sugar beets, it kills all the weeds in a field, but crops are left unharmed because they have a gene that makes them immune. And therein lies the problem for Frank Morton.
MORTON: Actually, a mile and a quarter east of here is a sugar-beet seed farm. I'm upwind of that guy. But not exactly upwind of him.
That wind could carry genetically-engineered sugar-beet pollen into Morton's organic farm, and contaminate his crop.
MORTON: If biotech traits show up in my seeds, then my seeds are worthless. If my traits show up in conventional or biotech seeds, it's not a big deal to them, it does not destroy their value. It's an asymmetrical relationship we have here.
Organic growers have raised similar concerns about genetically engineered soy beans, corn and other crops. This time they're looking to tip the balance back. They spearheaded a lawsuit charging the USDA approved Roundup Ready sugar beets without assessing potential environmental impacts, like genetic contamination and herbicide resistance.
In September, a federal judge ordered the USDA to do the environmental review. It could take years. In the meantime, the farmers and their allies are headed back to court.
Zelig Golden is a lawyer with the Center for Food Safety.
ZELIG GOLDEN: We're going to be moving the court to issue a permanent injunction to halt the sale and planting of GE sugar-beet seeds now and into the future, until the USDA does its job to protect consumers and farmers alike.
That would help the organic farmers. But there are 10,000 non-organic farmers raising more than a million acres of Roundup Ready sugar beets in 11 states. Along with Monsanto and the big seed companies, farmers are trying to protect their multi-billion-dollar business from a planting ban next spring. Monsanto, which has the patent for Roundup Ready seeds, wouldn't comment for this story, citing the pending litigation.
Luther Markwart of the American Sugar Beet Growers Association says more is at stake than the revenue from next year's crop.
LUTHER MARKWART: This is a food security issue. We need to make sure that we have a good, strong, viable domestic beet-sugar industry.
And he says the environmentalists have this one all wrong.
MARKWART: What you find with Roundup is you use one herbicide, you can apply it typically half as often. So this is a much more environmentally friendly way of raising our crop.
Markwart says 95 percent of the crop nationwide has converted to Roundup Ready in just the past three years. And he insists organic growers can be protected using traditional methods like monitoring and isolation. Frank Morton says just one accident could ruin him.
The parties meet in court next month. In a similar case, a judge banned Roundup Ready alfalfa; Monsanto's appealing that decision to the Supreme Court. If there's a ban on sugar-beet planting nationwide, it's doubtful there's enough conventional seed in storage to lay in a crop next spring.
I'm Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Calgary area, AB, 02/08/2010
There's more to notice than "economics" (meaning what you can get away with to pile up intrinsically worthless paper US dollars - contrary to God and even the US Constitution!) vs "organiscs" (a variously defined growing system.) I ask: What would God say?
Well, he wrote a book with orders (NOT ended by J.C. declared Mat 5:17-19). At the start (Genesis 1) we're told life reproduces kind after kind. Explicitly we're not to mix "kinds" (Lev 19:19) - not even to wear a garment of mixed fibres! (This also applies to humans: a topic "pastors" gingerly evade!) One can argue what is meant by a kind, but surely taking genes from one species and stuffing it into another unrelated type breaks this law! That would not happen naturally. What will be the long-term consequences of such god-like
tinkering with nature? I really don't know, but it may have a role in the forecast chaos and starvation to come. (And I say it will be in the lifetime of many now alive, since I know the time! We're not to be ignorant of this says I Thes 5:4-5. By logical steps I can show we can know the day!) Driving the small farmer, using natural seeds and growing methods, out of business is a goal of corporate agri-business and Satan. MOST of the most productive farmers in the world are the very people Satan targets. The Supermarkets geared to landless urbanite serfs would rather have industry crank out "food" with no role for such folks, or nature!
Recently I've been developing a marking system to certify food obeying God's Laws. (By the way, Jewish "kosher" doesn't follow the Bible. It freely marks GMO foods like GMO-canola oil.)
Now I'm learning here that the same racket has overtaken sugar beets... grown in abundance near here.
(Now I want to get some of the natural sugar beet seeds. I'm moving toa remoter area in the NE coast of Canada and plan to grow some natural crops, while promoting the whole idea of CHRISTMARK to put on foods and other things following God's Laws. No website yet. Write wisdomline@hotmail.com if you're intrested.
From Portland, OR, 01/31/2010
My friend's neighbor, who is from a different political party from hers, just rushed up to tell her about the farmer suicides in India, wanting her to go to a fancy meeting about it. I wasn't there, but I would have piled on about suicides in China, and probably now in the U.S. as well. I guess when entities escape these kinds of reports for a long time, they think they will escape wider knowledge of these things forever. News trickles up slowly, but eventually it gets there. Big ag is being invaded by mycorrhizae, up and down the pyramid it is used to being on the top of.
From Basin, WY, 12/05/2009
I would suggest those of you that are against GMO sugar beets seed and GMO alfalfa seed do some investigation before making off hand false comments about a subject you obviously know nothing about. If you would like some factual information please call me at 307-272-4550. Phil Hartman
From ID, 12/01/2009
S E-B from Seattle: Sugar beet seed is grown two years in advance of it's anticipated planting. If Roundup Ready seed is banned this winter, 2012 is the earliest conventional seed could be brought to the market.
DB from Maine: Roundup Ready beets are friendly to all the bottom lines involved in their production. As a farmer I drive my tractor across the field half as many times as with conventional beets, and spray fewer and cheaper chemicals on the crop.
From Pittsburgh, PA, 11/25/2009
Some questions for the thinkers.
Will the organic seed be destroyed should it inherit the GMO traits?
Why? Because Monsanto will claim intellectual property over the seed or because the elite consumer will no longer desire the tainted product?
What does the organic label mean?
Does it describe an ecological type of farming or does it describe the product as gourmet and thus acceptable upon the tables of the bourgeoisie?
Can GMO seed be grown with organic farming practices?
Could transgenic crops help to prevent losses like the tomato crop suffered this year on the east coast?
Are GMO's the problem or are Monsanto's the problem?
Should the saving of a Monsanto seed that has through the laws of nature infiltrated say my seed be a violation of intellectual property?
Should the Supreme Court re-draw that line?
From Ann Arbor, MI, 11/23/2009
Great story. I live in Michigan which is Fourth in the country for sugar beets production, 150, 000 acres. So this story hits home. The two brands, Pioneer and Big Chief sugar do not label as coming from GMO sugar beets, but consisting 95% are from GMO seeds, it not to hard to guess that most are. I did not want to ask the GMO question when I looked at my 5LB bag of Beet Sugar in the pantry. I figured I was going local, but going local and supporting GMO, and Monsanto are not the same thing.
From Nanaimo, BC, 11/22/2009
I was sprayed with Agent Orange in Canadian Forces Base Gagetown while Ottawa was massively testing the stuff for the U.S. Army before the Vietnam War. So I guess you can call me a “genetically modified organism” too, thanks to Monsanto and my government. Here are the questions one sentient GMO has for Monsanto.
If being poisoned by Monsanto’s chemicals causes birth defects and diseases in humans while killing a large percentage of a whole nation’s biomass like in Vietnam, as has been proven, what exactly occurs when genetically modified organisms like these beets are furthermore sprayed with chemicals? What does being down-wind of this spraying do to a pregnant animal and its baby? What does eating such a sprayed plant do to a pregnant animal and its baby? What are the cumulative effects of these toxic assaults on a fetus? Let’s all do nothing and maybe, years from now, one will write us and let us know.
Kelly Porter Franklin, GMO
From Quincy, FL, 11/22/2009
Even if one were not a reader of John Perkins (Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, etc) one would surely see Monsanto's continuing lead role as a perfect example of corporate plantation mentality (corporatocracy). When you worship money people are but chattel.
From Downeast, ME, 11/22/2009
I am the widow of a Vietnam veteran whose service in Vietnam resulted in my husband's premature death. There are many factors that dictated his fate but none more inglorious than those caused by his exposure to agent orange. Monsanto, as I understand, produced more agent orange during the Vietnam/American war than any of the other 36 chemical companies. Monsanto has a very poor record of producing products that actually benefit humanity what so ever. Yet they manage to continue these efforts unabated, without federal regulations of any kind. When will the government do it's job? When will it regulate this industry as it was meant to do? Think about it..why do we avoid poisonous plants? I'll tell you why; because somebody, somewhere along the line ate it and died. That's why. So listen up, what I am telling you is that Vietnam veterans and the Vietnamese were exposed to agent orange (many other innocent victims have been exposed as well). They got sick, many people have died, many people are dying, and many more are suffering from cancers and myriad of maladies that will result in their premature death. Their children are sick because of dioxin, an ingredient used to make agent orange, which is a known mutagen. There was a rainbow of herbicides used in Vietnam which is, more likely than not, Monsantos' biggest money maker, Roundup. Now the seeds are round up ready. How did they develop these seeds? Did 'Operation Ranch Hand' help Monsanto produce 'Roundup' and 'Roundup Ready Crops'? Everyone should pay attention to what is in their food because you are what you eat! Unfortunately there are no regulations so the only label you will find are those which read "NO GMOs". If you are the child of a Vietnam veteran and you think you are ill as a result of your parent(s) exposure to agent orange join us. http://www.agentorangelegacy.ning.com or http://www.agentorangelegacy.us
11/22/2009
This is the same Monsanto that is using funds they acquired, as a result of developing and selling to the US Government, Dioxin (the killer ingredient in Agent Orange). The insidious poison that continues to kill! Monsanto and others like them, should be banned - period!
11/20/2009
How in the world can you do a story like this and not provide a disclaimer that Monsanto (aka the bad guy in your story) is a financial supporter of your show? It's amazing that your coverage on this issue always has that sort of "fair and balanced" nonsense reporting approach that treats both sides of an important issue with equal respect even when one side is clearly wrong.
From Burton, WA, 11/20/2009
Not enough non-GMO sugar beet seed? Oh, No! Does that mean that Americans will be forced into buying from the world market (eg Cuba, Brazil, etc) in the future? Well, world sugar prices are about HALF of what "we" pay in this country. So, the consumer is the winner, right?
As for having a "nationally secure" source of sugar, why don't we hear that about oil. Oh, wait... we Do; but it hasn't changed anything. We simply buy foreign oil and go about our business.
I find it Beyond "merely interesting" that Monsanto has chosen crops to provide G-M seed for that are also the crops for which the Federal government has "price supports" in place. I think it's actually Monsanto's BUSINESS MODEL, to use the American farming community as a funnel to suck up our tax money that provides subsidies to farmers (who are, to a great degree, agribiz giants with no need for subsidies at all). ^..^
From Portland, OR, 11/20/2009
Through a horticulture program I am attending in the Portland area, I recently had the opportunity to visit Frank Morton's seed farm and the organic vegetable farm it partners with (Gathering Together Farm). I was impressed by the sophisticated level of innovation and creativity with which the two farms produce a high quality and quantity of organic vegetables and seed on such a small parcel of land (50 acres total, 5 in seed production). The partnership is a marvelous example of small-scale sustainable land use.
While it is not a multi-billion dollar industry, the example such an operation presents to young farmers in a rapidly changing industry one day might become worth billions. Let's protect these knowledge-building, experimenting enterprises from the heavy hand of big industry. National security also comes from the strength of diversity and an eye on the future, not just the short-term gain from a Monsanto sugar beet monocrop.
From NY, 11/19/2009
I'm teaching a high school biotech class, we just finished watching "The Future of Food." I can't wait to share this story with my class tomorrow. It's absolutely amazing to me how quickly GMO crops have spread without a detailed environmental impact review. Try building a tract of houses...you'll spend years completing environmental impact reviews; we don't eat homes, but somehow GMO's get fast tracked/skip environmental reviews???
From Seattle, WA, 11/19/2009
How could sugar beet growers have been so foolhardy and shortsighted as to not retain enough non-GMO seed to get their crop in? This lawsuit has been in the works for more than a year, and a smart farmer would have a backup plan.
From Milwaukee, WI, 11/19/2009
I want to hear more GMO/Ag-business related stories! They have large economic consequences. Which should be a series of stories in and of itself.
Marketplace did a better job of covering this story than when I last wrote in a comment.
However it's still kind of fishy to have a company(Monsanto) that underwrites for public media, but is always unable to comment when it's name comes up in a story.
I also think that any media outlet has an obligation to disclose the relationship of the underwriters in every story where they (Monsanto) are in question.
From ME, 11/19/2009
The big corporations suggest that organic farmers could isolate their crops to keep out G.M. pollen - like require them to build a big air-and-insect-and-light-tight tent over their whole farms? Wouldn't it be more fair for the G.M. farms to do this?
To me, a maybe more troubling story is about those innocent farmers who've been sued by the big corporations for "stealing" their technology, and prevented from growing their own seed stock, when in reality the G.M. pollen and/or seed blew across the line into the traditional farmer's field. The Supreme Court should block those type of suits, which no small farmer can afford to fight.
From ME, 11/19/2009
Markwart states "So this is a much more environmentally friendly way..." As opposed to what...DDT? Its not friendly to anybody but Monsanto's bottom line.
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