Canadian organic growers who are attempting to mount a class action lawsuit against the developers of genetically modified canola are pleased to see a similar action launched in the United States concerning GM alfalfa.
A coalition of farmers, consumers and environmentalists is suing the U.S. government over its approval of the commercial release of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready alfalfa.
“We welcome this lawsuit and we’ll support it in any way we can,” said Arnold Taylor, president of the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate.
SOD is waiting for an appeal of a Court of Queen’s Bench decision that rejected its application for a class action lawsuit against Monsanto Canada and Bayer Cropscience for damage caused to organic growers by the introduction of Roundup Ready and Liberty Link canola.
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Taylor considers the introduction of GM alfalfa south of the border as another affront to the organic industry by the makers of bitoech crops.
“We see this as much a threat to organic agriculture as Roundup Ready wheat,” he said.
Monsanto Canada spokesperson Trish Jordan said the threat is about the same, which is zilch, since there are no immediate plans to commercialize either crop in this country.
“The reason we’re not commercializing (RR alfalfa) in Canada at this time is because it’s just simply not in our business plan. We’re focusing on other things.”
Jordan said the big push for the crop came from the U.S. dairy industry, which relies on pure alfalfa as a key feed ingredient. Thirty-six percent of the 25 million acres of alfalfa grown in the U.S. is pure stand; the remainder is mixed in with other grasses.
She said the company might change its mind and introduce RR alfalfa in Canada somewhere down the road, but that would require registering a variety and getting a new label for the Roundup herbicide.
“Even if tomorrow we wanted to do this and introduce it commercially as a product, it would take us probably at least three years to do the variety registration trials.”
Organic producers are not only concerned about Canadian production.
Jim Mumm, president of Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds Ltd., said GM alfalfa would be disastrous for his company if it ever makes its way across the border.
“Any contamination of those organic fields will make them ineligible for organic certification. We’re worried about that of course,” said Mumm, whose Parkside, Sask., company grows and supplies certified organic alfalfa seeds for home and commercial sprouting.
He said alfalfa is the most widely grown legume for nitrogen production on organic farms and is a key ingredient in cattle rations.
“The organic livestock industry, which is just getting started in Canada, could be really damaged if there is any GM alfalfa.”
There are a number of ways GM alfalfa could contaminate its organic counterpart, including bees carrying the pollen across the border or the inadvertent inclusion of GM seed on a shipment of hay.
Jordan said most of the 75,000 acres of RR alfalfa seeded in the U.S. last fall and the 50,000 to 75,000 acres that will be planted this spring are for hay production and will be cut before flowering, so pollen drift won’t be a problem.
Those who are growing the crop for seed must adhere to strict stewardship rules, such as a 270 metre isolation buffer between RR alfalfa and other alfalfa crops.
However, she acknowledged it would be impossible to guarantee Canadian organic crops will be free of contamination, which is why she thinks the industry should adopt reasonable tolerance levels like it does with pesticide residue.
“One of the challenges is the organic industry insisting on this 100 percent purity for GMO presence,” Jordan said.
