3-25 IAN Sugar Beet Go Ahead

 Pheww! Hey, this is a one man show and that’s my best attempt at sound effects for the collective sigh of relief that must surely be coming from around 1200 sugar beet growers. I’m David Sparks and I’ll tell you why they were dancing a jig last Wednesday and it had nothing to do with St. Patty’s Day. 

According to the Idaho Statesman, “A federal judge on Tuesday said farmers can harvest their genetically engineered sugar beets this year, ruling the economic impact too great and that environmental groups waited too long to request that the crop be yanked from the ground and otherwise barred from the market. Nearly all sugar beets planted are genetically engineered and the crop accounts for half the nation's sugar supply.”

Just a few weeks ago we ruminated over the fact that U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White ruled last September that the U.S. Department of Agriculture must complete a full environmental impact statement for the genetically modified crop, a process that could take several years. And that left sugar beet growers on the fence to plant or not to plant. Here’s the the President of the Idaho Sugar Beet Growers Association and grower himself, Jeff Henry from Jerome: “I would say you’ve got 1200 beet growers that are beyond happy today. I know the way my phone’s been ringing today it’s definitely good news.”

The genetic engineering part involves implanting a gene that helps the beets withstand applications of weed killer.