Panelists Debate RR Alfalfa Contamination Issue
Author: Fae Holin
Publication: Hay & Forage Grower
Date: Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Via: AgBios
Possible contamination of conventional alfalfa’s seed supply
by Roundup Ready alfalfa was a hot point of the most recent debate over whether
or not the transgenic crop should again be legalized.
National Hay Association members, at their Sept. 17-20 annual
meeting, heard from two of the leading figures in the Roundup Ready issue. They
are Mark McCaslin of Forage Genetics, the company
licensed by Monsanto to develop Roundup Ready alfalfa, and Phillip Geertson, the semi-retired
Also a part of the discussion was Andrea Huberty,
USDA-APHIS project coordinator for the Roundup Ready alfalfa environmental
impact statement (EIS), which is required before the transgenic alfalfa’s fate
is determined.
All three of the panelists made 10-minute presentations. McCaslin told of the benefits of biotech in finding ways to
add stress tolerance, digestibility and yield improvements to alfalfa and
stressed that the transgenic crop could safely coexist with conventional
alfalfa. Geertson showed slides of forage alfalfa
gone to seed, feral alfalfa along ditches and roadsides and volunteer alfalfa
in fields to make a case for the possibility of contamination of conventional
alfalfa with Roundup Ready alfalfa.
Huberty told the group that the
EIS is on schedule and that she hopes to have it available for public comment
by the end of the year. She also said the statement’s purpose was to look at
issues like possible contamination or other impacts that may happen with the
deregulation of Roundup Ready alfalfa.
Afterward, hay growers, dealers and brokers asked the panel
questions on contamination, safety and grower or dealer/broker liability with
contaminated seed or hay. Here’s a snapshot of the question-and-answer period:
Is there any evidence that biotech alfalfa is safe or unsafe
for feed use as compared to conventional alfalfa?
Huberty: The Food and Drug
Administration evaluated data submitted on Roundup Ready alfalfa “in terms of
whether or not it was safe for food or feed. They found that there is
essentially no difference except for the trait of Roundup resistance in the
alfalfa.”
Geertson: “There are a lot of
people who do not agree with that. They feel that the genetically engineered
plants should be checked for safety, for health of the animals and health of
the people. You’re dealing with a product with no tests as to whether it’s safe
or not. By this philosophy, they could get the gene out of the strychnine plant
and move it into corn and corn could be as deadly as strychnine.”
McCaslin: “That determination that
FDA made is based on what they call substantial equivalents, so there’s no
philosophical basis for this. They don’t say philosophically it should be; they
actually ask that tests be run to prove that it is (safe). You’re (Geertson) incorrect in saying those tests aren’t conducted.
They’re required for every trait that gets deregulated, so there’s a tremendous
amount of safety information that is generated as far as that approval process
with FDA.”
Roundup Ready corn and soybeans have been out for awhile. Were
there problems with those crops or can’t we compare the two with Roundup Ready
alfalfa in terms of crop pollination in fields?
Huberty: “Alfalfa is different. It
is the first product that is insect-pollinated and it’s a perennial. So the
amount of gene flow between those crops can be very different than what it is
for alfalfa. Those are the issues that the judge pointed out that we needed to
address in our environmental impact statement.”
I’d like to see both (transgenic and conventional alfalfa) be
available. But I’ve also thought about the edges of the fields and the future
ability to control stray (transgenic) plants. How much of a problem is
contamination?
McCaslin: “There’s been a seed
certification program in existence for several decades, and it’s administered
by AOSCA, the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies. But it’s
exercised on a state level by state crop improvement associations. AOSCA has
national standards for practices that it requires for certified seed production
that ensures genetic integrity of the seed you produce. And one of the
requirements is that you have a minimum of 165’ of isolation between your seed
field and any other alfalfa whether that’s feral growing on roadsides, seed
fields or a hay field. In order to get the seed certified, there’s at least one
visit by the seed certifying agency and in most cases, two or three. Those
practices have been widely practiced and our seed certification system is
really the envy of the world. We’ve done a phenomenal job across all crops, not
just alfalfa, of maintaining genetic integrity of varieties through seed cert
and practices. So with Roundup Ready alfalfa, the basis is, you obviously
follow all the seed certification rules. Realizing that gene flow is a more
sensitive issue, we’ve adopted additional isolation requirements. In
“A whole chapter addresses the issue of feral alfalfa plants
and potential gene flow from feral to hay and feral to seed (in the just-released
Gene Flow in Alfalfa: Biology, Mitigation, and Potential Impact on Production, published
by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology). Again, their
conclusion in the paper was that, although there very likely will be some feral
alfalfa plants with the Roundup Ready transgene, it
represents such a small pollen source in comparison with seed production, especially
with the pollen available in the seed field, it should have no significance.”
What about the stuff (alfalfa gone to seed) along the fields
and ditches?
McCaslin: With hay and seed
production, you’re required to control that to a distance of 165’.
Geertson: “I just showed those
pictures and what they (growers) are practicing were out there … What is going
on in the real world isn’t even close to what they’re suggesting they can do (using
stewardship practices). You don’t have any requirements or penalties for
somebody violating the rules. You know how it’s going to be out there in the
farm country. People are going to do what they want to do.”
Huberty: “I’ll say how we’re
addressing this in the environmental impact statement. We’re looking at those
two extremes. We take the instance where everyone followed it (regulations) to
a T and we take the instance where nobody is going to follow it. And we look at
the environmental conflict of both sides. We take into account people
essentially not following the rules.”
McCaslin: Every Roundup Ready
alfalfa seed field has to be planted under the isolation requirements outlined
in the best management practices document. “Any grower who wants to plant
conventional seed can call his local crop improvement association and say, ‘I
am interested in planting conventional seed and I want to find out how far it
is from Roundup Ready’ and the crop improvement association will share that
information.”
Geertson: “The certification
program that we’ve had in the past to prevent the genetic transfer between
varieties – there have been some real tolerances there. If you have a three-dormancy
alfalfa planted next to another seed field of three-dormancy alfalfa, you’re
going to get some transfer there. They know that and they’ve made these rules
to try to minimize that. However, it’s accepted that there will be quite a bit
of transfer there. But consequences between a Roundup Ready alfalfa and a
conventional alfalfa are much greater. When you do a seeding of an alfalfa, the
certification rules will be as low as much as 1% hard seed that came in and
invaded the new seed. I don’t think that anybody here raising alfalfa – who
wants to raise conventional alfalfa – is going to accept 1% contamination of
Roundup Ready alfalfa.
“There’s another thing about this perennial plant that’s
pollinated by bees that transfer for a long ways. Once it’s (Roundup Ready
alfalfa) introduced into the environment, it’s not going to be able to be
recalled if by some remote chance it does show to have some problems. Now, with
corn and soybeans and other things, if there were problems, and there have been
problems, they can be recalled.
“Mark (McCaslin) is talking about
all these other changes that they’re going to do to alfalfa, and when they
introduce them out into the environment, they’re not going to be recalled. So I
think those should have very specific tests as to whether they’re safe or not. And
at this point there’s very little being done on it. If people don’t want to eat
genetically modified plants, they have the right to make that choice. When you
introduce Roundup Ready alfalfa or any genetic trait to perennial plants or
plants cross-pollinated by bees and have a lot of hard seed, you’re taking that
choice away from the people who want to eat non-genetic-engineered food.”
Is the farmer liable for making sure it (Roundup Ready
alfalfa) doesn’t go to seed and doesn’t contaminate the seed crop?
McCaslin: “When a hay grower buys
Roundup Ready alfalfa seed, that hay grower signs a technology license with
Monsanto, which owns the gene. That technology agreement binds the grower to
the technology-use guide, the TUG. And the TUG outlines … when you have to cut,
stand takeout, all the requirements. The grower is
liable through contract to follow the management practices as outlined in the
TUG. There is grower liability just as there is with all the other biotech
crops.”
Geertson: “That grower contract …
how enforceable is it? Will they enforce it? They obviously so far with Roundup
Ready alfalfa have not enforced it.”
McCaslin: “They (Monsanto) have a 1-800
number; it’s 1-800-roundup, so anybody who sees … a grower who is not following
those rules, you call that number. It’s an anonymous report. You say that the
grower on this location is not following the rules and they’ll send somebody
out to check on it.”
Geertson: “One neighbor isn’t
going to squeal on another.”
McCaslin: “You would be surprised.
It’s an anonymous reporting service and I know that they’re pretty committed on
following up on growers who are not following the rules. It’s the basis of
stewardship. It’s the basis of coexistence and we all have a vested interest in
it.”
If a grower unintentionally plants seed that contains (a
biotech) gene in the seed and puts it on the market, is he liable to pay
Monsanto a license fee?
McCaslin: “If it’s accidental
presence, absolutely not. Monsanto’s been very public about that.”
Geertson: “How about when a
Roundup Ready alfalfa seed grower gets his neighbor’s seed field contaminated
and then you’re selling this conventional seed that’s contaminated? Should he
tell the buyer that he’s selling contaminated seed? Whose responsibility is
this? USDA, when it made the rules on segregating alfalfa, gave the rule that
you have to sweep off your trucks and clean out your balers, which was so much
B.S. But they refused to make any rule or regulation concerning the sale of
conventional alfalfa seed that is contaminated with the Roundup Ready gene. We
know there is a lot of alfalfa that is contaminated out there and it is being
sold and you’re going to be planting it on the farm. So when you experience the
problems with it, who are you going to sue? Who’s responsible for that? The
only law we can use on that is the general trespass law. That definitely is a
trespass in the area of dominion when you get something on your farm that you
don’t want.”
This same issue happened to canola and the worst thing
happened. Monsanto took over these small companies that were producing canola
seed because they got that genetic Roundup Ready in their seed from blowing off
their trucks. How are you preventing this from happening to the hay grower? I
don’t want to lose an independent seed producer because I want to be able to
buy seed from somebody other than Monsanto. I don’t want to buy expensive seed
if I can buy cheaper seed from a little guy without the advertisement or
television.
Huberty: “Those are the issues
that are going to be looked at and developed in the environmental impact
statement. We’re looking at impacts of both seed and hay, of having varieties
available to the public for purchase and what the implications are from
business and economics for both individual and larger organizations. USDA
believes that organic production, use of genetically engineered varieties and
conventional farming all provide benefits to consumers and farmers. So it’s
trying to have that balance so everybody has a choice of what they want to buy,
whether it’s the cheapest genetically engineered variety or a variety down the
street. But recognize that genetically engineered varieties are the only ones
that are regulated. They’re the only ones that go through any sort of federal process
and are approved for use on the markets.”
Geertson: “There are a lot of
growers out in our area who have a good conscious and they don’t want to sell
contaminated seed into the marketplace. So they made the decision that they’re
just going to get out of the alfalfa seed business because the area around them
is contaminated with Roundup Ready alfalfa. I don’t know where we’re going to
grow conventional alfalfa seed now in the
McCaslin: “I think I can speak for
the vast majority of the alfalfa seed industry and say that those companies are
committed, for the very long term, of producing both (conventional and
transgenic seed) should Roundup Ready alfalfa be deregulated. And I know that
the quality control practices that we’re using internally at Forage Genetics
and Cal/West and Pioneer and Dairyland are very
simple quality-control procedures to make sure that conventional variety seed
stock stays conventional with no contamination. We routinely screen all of our breeding
stock to make sure that they’re true to type and there’s no contamination from
Roundup Ready if it’s conventional, that it’s the right dormancy, that it has
the traits that we’re promising.”
Is the environmental impact statement going to look at the
accumulated use of glyphosate in genetically
engineered crops?
Huberty: “We’re looking at
cumulative use in the environment of glyphosate, not
necessarily at a farm level. Because you have Roundup Ready alfalfa, you
typically wouldn’t plant another Roundup Ready crop afterwards because the
alfalfa volunteers over the next season and you’re not going to get rid of it
unless you use other herbicides. So we’re looking at the costs involved in
changing, essentially, the inputs that are put in that farm over time and what
are the practices available to that farmer if he’s using Roundup Ready alfalfa.”
Geertson: “The issue of hard seed
is one of the most important issues, as this is continuing contamination. When
you raise an alfalfa field and harvest the seed, you always drop on the ground
a fairly large percentage of the seed. As seed growers we try to combine it and
do the best that we can. But, often times, with weather conditions and wind, it
will blow the seed out. Those alfalfa seed fields, particularly if they are
grown for three or four years, have a very high buildup of the seed in the ground, … and that hard seed can last for years. I’ve seen
fields come up almost with a solid stand of alfalfa four years after it had any
alfalfa grown in it because of the hard seed. We’re saying that that should be
analyzed. So far, indications are that they’re just going to gloss over that, whitewash
and say there isn’t anything to this hard seed thing.
“The other thing is the cross-pollination and the transfer
into the feral alfalfa plants around, on county roads, right of ways and other
areas. And in city lots. Those are typically sprayed
with glyphosate and when that is done and repeatedly
sprayed there, those plants over a period of time are going to be 100% Roundup
Ready. Then there will be absolutely no way you can go in there and control
those in the future. So this report that you’re going to come up with has to
acknowledge that once Roundup Ready alfalfa is thoroughly through the
environment, it will never be able to be recalled. Now if the public says
that’s okay … I won’t say any more. But I don’t think the general public is
going to accept that. And there are a lot of people who want to eat organic
food. If you allow this to happen, you’re going to destroy the organic business.
I don’t think in your environmental impact statement that you can say that that
is an insignificant effect and that you can go and deregulate Roundup Ready
alfalfa. Those are the issues and that’s the reason I don’t think Roundup Ready
alfalfa is ever going to see daylight again as far as being legally sold.”
Huberty: “For the environmental
impact statement itself, we will be analyzing the effects of hard seed, the
event of gene flow between seed and feral and hay – all of those issues will be
addressed as well as the impact of Roundup Ready alfalfa and the impact on
organic business.”
Are you going to have so-called controls out and test random
fields for the Roundup Ready gene in alfalfa?
McCaslin: “We’re doing that today.
We’re testing all of our conventional seed lots as they come in from the field
and then we’re doing random tests of grab samples (of conventional seed).”
Geertson: “There is a good way
that you can test the seed that you buy this spring. When you plant your fields,
over-plant a little area and then spray it with Roundup after it comes up. If
there are any surviving (alfalfa) plants out there you will know that you are
contaminated. I hope that you will inform the state department of ag and have them come out and take
a look at it and then send the information on to me.”
McCaslin: “There is an even
simpler way. There’s a relatively simple seed test that’s used for the export
seed industry to test for the presence of the Roundup Ready transgene
in seed lots. A number of labs across the country do that. So if you’re buying
commercial seed and you’re concerned about low levels of adventitious presence,
it would be pretty routine to have that seed tested if
that was the concern.”
Geertson: “On those tests they do 1,000
seeds. There are 220,000 seeds in a pound of alfalfa. When you plant a 50-lb
bag, it’s very likely that those tests could miss a lot of seed. When you take
out just 1,000 seeds, you’re taking a very small percentage of seed out of the
bag. So you can very likely miss a lot of the transgenic seed in there. However,
when you do this proposition of planting an acre or whatever, and you put on 4-5
lbs of seed, even if there’s one or two seeds in there,
it’ll show up in this test when you spray.”
Is there any place left in the world that can grow non-genetic
alfalfa?
McCaslin: “There are places in the
Huberty: “Actually, all that is
talked about in the environmental impact statement. We look at the effect of
deregulation of RR alfalfa in trade.”
Geertson: “I’ve had a small export
business of alfalfa seed to
Supposing I have a Roundup-resistant alfalfa field for three
or four years and I decide that I’m going to rotate and grow soybeans the
following year. How am I going to get rid of that resistant alfalfa in my
soybean fields?
McCaslin: “First of all, just do a
good job of taking out the stand. There are recommendations in the technical
use guide in terms of what herbicides.”
Geertson: “Then if you want to do
a real good job, get a tweezers and go around to all the fields that have all
of these hard seeds that are laying there.”
Audience Comment: I think the real question is, ‘Why can’t it (Roundup Ready alfalfa) be managed in some fashion?
There is no question that there are issues. They have to be dealt with. But you
know what, there was a problem with the first tractors
that came out, too. And there were problems with GPS systems, too. They have to
be resolved and managed and taken care of. We have to have a watchdog agency
that does that ... We have the USDA involved and I think that’s an appropriate
process. I’m glad to have seen it go this far because … in the end, we have to
move forward. We have a world to feed.”
Geertson: “I don’t want anyone to
think that I’m anti-technology, but we have to be careful with trangenics.”
McCaslin: “As I talk to my
colleagues in the seed industry, we all look at biotech traits as being a part
of our future and it’s the only way, I think, that alfalfa’s going to compete
long-term with corn and corn silage. These traits are being introduced in other
crops, making them more profitable. Alfalfa competes with those crops, for
acres, for shares in the rumen in dairy diets. We have some opportunity, I
think, especially with some of these quality traits that actually make alfalfa
a larger part of animal diets rather than a smaller part. And we’ve been
heading in the wrong direction. I think biotech traits are what kept our crops
competitive.”
Huberty: “Within the public
comment period for the draft environmental impact statement, we will be having
public meetings (Likely held on the East and
Audience Comment: “We always want bigger yields, higher crop
values. We’ve got to compete against urban sprawl; we’ve got to be competitive
in the world. But DDT when that came out it was approved and it’s been bad. So
please be careful.
SOURCE: HAY & FORAGE GROWER
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