Tri-State Neighbor: South Dakota Farm Newspaper

An important crop for the United States and the world stands at a crossroads. Will alfalfa become a biotech product?

The answer seemed clear a few years ago. According to information from Monsanto, Roundup Ready alfalfa was reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration and approved by the USDA. The seed went on the market in 2005.

A federal lawsuit was filed in early 2006 by the Center for Food Safety in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit cited the failure of the USDA to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

In May 2007, the sale or planting of further Roundup Ready alfalfa was stopped pending the completion of the Environmental Impact Statement by the USDA.

An injunction continues today against selling or planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa. Growers in 48 states planted more than 263,000 acres of Roundup Ready alfalfa prior to the injunction. These growers follow USDA guidelines when selling the regulated hay.

Now, a noted scientific group has weighed in on the issue.

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) just released a 30-page paper on the subject. The paper is called “Gene Flow in Alfalfa: Biology, Mitigation and Potential Impact on Production.”

“One of the important things is the credibility this publication has because of the author team that was selected,” said John Bonner, CAST executive vice president.

What the paper says

The paper states that when producers use process-based strategies, like those developed by certified seed or organic programs, the flow of biotech genes to non-biotech alfalfa plants is very remote.

The authors ask readers to use scientific principles when considering the potential for contamination of biotech genes in conventional alfalfa varieties.

For many crops, a low threshold of impurities is accepted in the final product. Those impurities may include a very small amount of pesticides, weed seed or other types of varietal seed. The authors recommend following a similar path to allow the development of biotech alfalfa.

The potential flow of alfalfa genes is actually less than with many other crop types for several reasons.

€ Alfalfa is primarily used as forage hay. The hay is generally cut before alfalfa flowers or goes to seed.

€ Viable seed production does hold the potential for gene dispersion. However, the very nature of seed production makes it unlikely gene flow would occur. Seed production requires best management practices in the cleaning and management of seed harvesting and processing equipment.

€ Cultural and rotational practices for alfalfa manage volunteer alfalfa.

€ Volunteer alfalfa is commonly controlled, and is limited by low pollen counts versus recipient seed production fields during flowering.

€ Alfalfa seed is relatively large and is not likely to be spread by wind or weather fronts. Animals could eat alfalfa that has gone to seed and disperse gene technology. In most cases, though, animals will eat other forages before eating alfalfa that has gone to seed.

Implications

The primary mission of CAST is the publication of task force reports, special publications and other types of papers. CAST is not responsible for the use that may be made of its publications, said Bonner.

“We released our first publication in 1973, as suggested by the National Academy of Science,” he said. “We needed to get science out of the scientific journals and into the hands of the public, so they are not influencing decisions the wrong way because they don't have the information.”

Norman Borlaug, 1970 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, wrote the first CAST paper.

Over the past 36 years, CAST papers have often been used as credible science-based information communicated to legislators, regulators, policymakers, the media, the private sector and the public.

CAST is funded by individuals, companies, nonprofit organizations, and in part, by the USDA. It is based in Ames, Iowa. The nonprofit organization works with 37 scientific societies with 170,000 members.

“We have people from a broad background that look at all the topics before we go out to find volunteer authors and volunteer reviewers to write and comment,” Bonner said.

The report on gene flow in alfalfa was chaired and co-authored by Allen Van Deynze of the Seed Biotechnology Center, University of California-Davis.

Authors included Sharie Fitzpatrick, Forage Genetics International, West Salem, Wis.; Bob Hammon, Tri River Area Extension, Grand Junction, Colo.; Mark McCaslin, Forage Genetics International, Prior Lake, Minn.; Daniel Putnam, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California- Davis; Larry Teuber, Foundation Seed Program, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California-Davis; and Daniel Undersander, Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The document was then reviewed by five distinguished colleagues from the University of Georgia, University of Illinois, Washington State University, USDA-ARS and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.

Understanding gene flow in alfalfa hay and seed production can help develop management strategies to minimize contamination, said Van Deynze.

About 3 to 5 percent of U.S. alfalfa hay is marketed to buyers who don't want biotech alfalfa. About 33 percent of U.S. alfalfa hay seed is offered to markets that want only conventionally-bred alfalfa varieties.

The authors concluded that enough scientific data is available to successfully minimize gene flow from biotechnology to conventional alfalfa hay and seed production.

Regular testing can help monitor the effectiveness of any strategies, and adjustments can be made as needed. The key for success is planned isolation of one seed production field from another.

For more information, visit www.cast-science.org.