Beets still offer hope

Growers hopeful USDA will come through with a partial deregulation

By DAVE WILKINS

Capital Press

Sugar beet farmers hope to plant Roundup Ready beets again next year even though the crop remains under the shadow of a federal court order.

Growers' chances of planting Roundup Ready beets in 2011 improved Sept. 1 when the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced that it would consider a partial deregulation of the crop.

The agency said it would conduct an environmental analysis to guide its decision whether to authorize future planting. APHIS officials anticipate making a decision on "appropriate interim regulatory measures" by the end of the year.

"I'm optimistic. I'm hopeful that APHIS can get the study done in time for (planting in) 2011," said Clark Kauffman, a grower from Filer, Idaho.

Plenty of uncertainty remains.

A federal judge on Aug. 13 ruled that Roundup Ready sugar beets are again a regulated crop. He also remanded the case back to USDA's APHIS, which means the federal agency will decide whether and under what restrictions the crop can be grown.

Plaintiffs in the case could always go back to court to try to block any partial deregulation before APHIS completes a full environmental impact statement, a process that the agency said could take two years.

Kauffman still plans to grow Roundup Ready beets next year despite all the uncertainly.

"I'll go ahead and get my ground ready for beets, and if the roof caves in, I'll plant something else," he said.

Conventional seed is likely to be in short supply next year, according to the sugar beet industry.

Kauffman said he isn't sure growers would want to plant conventional seed even if they could get it.

"You can't go back to horse and buggy once you have a tractor," he said. "I don't think I would ever plant conventional beets again."

Going back to conventional beet seed would mean a return to conventional herbicides and work crews, and it's uncertain how much of either one would be available, Kauffman said.

"Beets are a good crop, but if you have to spend an extra couple hundred dollars per acre on hand labor, then you're right back to the price of grain or beans, so why not just grow grain or beans?" Kauffman said.

APHIS's consideration of partial deregulation is "a step in the right direction," said Treasure Valley grower Drew Eggers, of Meridian.

Eggers said growers in his area are also optimistic they'll be able to grow Roundup Ready beets in 2011.

"In my mind, the conventional methods are not an option," he said.

Even if plenty of conventional seed were available, growers would be taking a big gamble ordering it because there's no assurance that enough conventional herbicides would be available, Eggers said.

"It's a very risky thing to consider going back to conventional even if it were possible," he said.

A return to conventional beets could also quell enthusiasm for strip tillage, said Robert Downard, a field man for The Amalgamated Sugar Co.

"With conventional beets you would have to till more because the weed control wouldn't be as effective," he said. "(Strip tillage) would be much more of a challenge."