The concern comes on the back of a federal court ruling on August 13 blocking the planting or processing of genetically modified (GM) sugar beets until the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has completed an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This year’s crop can be harvested and processed as normal, the court said, but with the preparation of an EIS usually expected to take 24 to 36 months, the decision could pose supply problems later on.
Executive vice president of the American Sugarbeet Association Luther Markwart said that the association is due to talk with the USDA this week, but if an agreement cannot be reached to allow planting of genetically modified sugar, he claims many sugar growers could go out of business.
“It’s extremely important because in the past two years growers have sold machinery that has become obsolete,” he said. “They have gotten new planters that need less tillage so they are not disturbing the soil as much…You need to reacquire that machinery. For many growers that would be prohibitively expensive.”
In addition, he said that most of the herbicides that were commonly used with conventional sugar beets have been phased out as growers embraced Roundup Ready beets.
GM sugar beets account for 95 percent of those being grown in the US, according to USDA figures, with beet sugar providing about half of the total US sugar supply.
Currently, Monsanto is the only supplier of GM sugar beets.
The court denied a permanent injunction against the planting of GM sugar beets.
Even without anxieties over machinery and herbicide availability, Markwart said that only four seed companies and the USDA are aware of the amount of conventional seed available on the market, so it is difficult to estimate how large the impact would be if growers are not allowed to plant GM seed next year.
“Depending on the situation, we could see companies and factories having to close their doors,” he said.
He added that growers are “clearly not pleased” that the issue was not raised earlier, as the crop was deregulated in 2005, and there was only a small amount of seed available until 2007.
“We needed a couple of years to produce enough seed to be able to plant it commercially,” he said. “…If there was a real concern about this crop and this issue, it should have happened then.”