Modified sugarbeets stir controversy

Some concerned over request to plant crops on Boulder County open space.

By Zak Brown, Thursday, May 28, 2009

Should farmers be allowed to grow genetically modified sugarbeets on Boulder County open space?


BOULDER, Colo. — A group of six farmers said they'll be financially crippled if Boulder County commissioners don't allow them to grow genetically modified sugarbeets on the open space land they lease. But several residents who spoke at a Thursday night meeting said the county shouldn't allow potentially dangerous crops on public land.

"This is risky technology. I don't want us to be the 'oops' guinea pig," said Mary Rogers, of Boulder. "We don't know the consequences, and we're deluding ourselves if we think we do."

The Board of Commissioners will decide on the farmers' request to plant Roundup Ready Sugarbeets, which have been engineered to resist the herbicide Roundup, after hearing recommendations from the county's Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee and the Food and Agriculture Policy Council. The two groups held a joint study session on the issue Thursday night.

The new beets would make weed control far more efficient, the farmers said. They may also soon be the only way forward for a crop that's been a staple of Boulder County agriculture for more than a century, they said.

"We would be at a considerable disadvantage to not have this technology," said Paul Schlagel, part of the six-farmer group that leases nearly 1,000 acres of open space for sugarbeets. "You could see no beets grown on Boulder County Open Space soon."

The farmers belong to the Western Sugar Cooperative, which fines members if they don't meet a beet quota, which could become impossible without the Roundup Ready technology, Schlagel said. In fact, he said, many seed companies will probably stop selling conventional sugarbeet varieties because of the modified crop's popularity.

Since it was approved a year ago, more than 90 percent of the nation's sugarbeet crop has been converted to Roundup Ready, according to a Boulder County staff report.

Staff members recommended approval of the farmers' request, with the stipulation that no beets be planted within 50 feet of open water to protect amphibians from the spraying of Roundup.

They also said farmers -- in an effort to reduce pollen drift of the genetically modified seeds -- should check the plants every two weeks to make sure they aren't flowering. Staff said the problem wouldn't be major because sugarbeets only flower after two years, and they are harvested after a year.

But several residents urged members of the open space committee and food council to ignore the staff's recommendation when they make their own decisions next month.

"Just because genetically modified plants are grown on millions of acres doesn't mean they're safe," said Shirley Jin, of Boulder. "Do Boulder residents want to pay taxes for land that's producing this stuff?"