Seminar explores options for farmers guarding against contamination

By TIM HEARDEN

Capital Press

YREKA, Calif. -- Can genetically modified alfalfa coexist near conventional and organic fields? Yes, with certain caveats, an expert says.

The most likely scenario in which genes could be transferred is from hay contacting other hay, and hay is usually cut before flowering occurs, said Dan Putnam, an alfalfa and forage specialist from the University of California-Davis.

Under what Putnam calls a "worst-case scenario" in which the crop was allowed to flower and pollinators were present, there's a 3 percent probability that genes could be carried as far as 160 feet, he said. When you get to 500 feet, the chance is near zero, he said.

Under normal circumstances, there's a minuscule probability of contaminating a neighboring plant, he said.

"It's not really zero," Davis cautioned about 50 farmers at a University of California Cooperative Extension-sponsored crop seminar here Feb. 21.

The level of acceptable risk "is really something that has to be determined by the marketplace," he said. "You could argue that one stem could contaminate a crop with billions of stems and that would constitute contamination. That's the question here ... 'What is the level of tolerance?'"

Neighboring plantings have at least as much a chance of being contaminated by drifting pesticides, fertilizers and pests, he said. Because harvest equipment can also contaminate crops, growers need to make sure it's clean before taking it to an organic field, Davis said.

Kirsten Olsen, an organic hay producer near Grenada, Calif., remains worried. She and others go to great lengths to meet strict standards for organic certification, she said.

"I would ask that my neighbors be required to have a buffer and to get rid of wild alfalfa so I can farm the way I want to farm," Olsen said.

The use of Roundup Ready alfalfa is expected to rise steadily after a federal judge last month removed a key legal hurdle, rejecting allegations by biotech critics that the U.S. Department of Agriculture violated environmental laws by fully deregulating transgenic alfalfa.

The trait was developed by Monsanto and allows farmers to directly spray glyphosate on alfalfa, leaving the crop undamaged while killing weeds.

In a university survey, most producers said they were pleased the product is available. However, some conventional farmers may be dissuaded by the cost of the seeds or the fact that some export destinations won't accept genetically modified hay, said Steve Orloff, a UC farm advisor here.

Even users of genetically enhanced alfalfa would be best advised to rotate herbicides and non-Roundup Ready crops to decrease the chance that weeds will become glyphosate-resistant, he said.

Online

University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources: http://ucanr.org/