OREGON: COUPLE GROWS FOOD TO SUSTAIN MONARCH BUTTERFLIES Page 4
FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2016
VOLUME 89, NUMBER 26
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
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After 13 years, farmers still worry about controlling escaped genetically engineered bentgrass
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
O
WASHINGTON
90
GMO bentgrass in the Northwest
90
5
82
Walla Walla
97
84
cean
Malheur County farmer Jerry Erstrom points out a genetically en-
gineered creeping bentgrass plant June 14 on an irrigation ditch
bank near Ontario, Ore. Bentgrass, also seen in the photo below,
was genetically modifi ed by Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. to resist the
Roundup weed killer, escaped from fi eld trials in 2003 and has
taken root in Malheur and Jefferson counties in Oregon and part
of Canyon County in Idaho.
Seattle
Pacific
O
Photos by Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Madras
395
IDAHO
OREGON
Bend
Parma
20
101
Boise
5
97
Areas of GMO
bentgrass
occurrence
395
CALIF.
95
NTARIO, Ore. — Eastern
Oregon farmer Jerry Er-
strom scouts for patches
of genetically engineered
creeping bentgrass on the
banks of an irrigation ditch June 14.
It doesn’t take him long to fi nd one.
And then another, and another.
The bentgrass was genetically engi-
neered to withstand
applications of glypho-
At a glance
sate herbicide, which
makes it diffi cult to kill.
Farmers such as Er-
strom worry it will ul-
timately take over the
countryside, clog irri-
gation ditches and af- Name: The Scotts
fect shipments of crops Miracle-Gro Company
to nations that don’t Type: Public (NYSE: SMG)
accept traces of genet- Industry: Consumer lawn
ically modifi ed organ- and garden products
Founded: 1995
isms, or GMOs.
“I’ve been doing HQ: Marysville, Ohio
weeds for 25 years and CEO and chairman:
I promise you in fi ve James Hagedorn
years this (county) will Net revenue: $2.84 billion*
be inundated with it,” Net earnings: $166 million*
said Erstrom, chair- Operations: U.S., Canada,
Europe and Asia Pacific
man of the Malheur
Notable brands: Scotts,
County Weed Board.
Miracle-Gro, Ortho,
The bentgrass was Evergreen, KB, Fertiligene,
meant for golf courses. Celaflor and Substral
Instead, after escap- Employees: 6,700 (full-time)*
ing from fi eld trials 13 Website:
years ago, it has taken scottsmiraclegro.com
root in Malheur and *FY 2014
Jefferson counties and
ignited a debate about who should be re-
sponsible for controlling it in the future.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., which was
developing the grass for use mainly on
golf course greens, said it is committed
to collaboratively working with grow-
ers and irrigation districts to control
and eradicate the grass where possible.
But some farmers believe a 10-year
agreement Scotts recently reached
with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service will allow the com-
pany in a few years to essentially walk
Mountain Home
away from any responsibility for con-
trolling the plant.
N
Turn to BENTGRASS, Page 12
NEV.
Capital Press graphic
9th Circuit ponders
local GMO authority
Farmer to challenge Clean
Water Act tillage ruling
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
A California farmer plans to chal-
lenge a recent court ruling that he vi-
olated the Clean Water Act by tilling
through wetlands in his fi eld.
A federal judge has ruled John
Duarte of Tehama County, Calif.,
should have obtained a Clean Water
Act permit to run shanks through
the wetlands at a depth of four to
six inches, creating furrows prior to
planting wheat in a 450-acre pasture.
Turn to WATER, Page 12
If the USDA has only limited au-
thority over biotechnology, how much
power do states and counties have to
restrict genetically engineered crops?
This question arose from a pivotal
ruling issued by the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals three years ago, and
the appellate court will probably soon
have to answer it.
ANALYSIS
In 2013, the 9th Circuit decided that
USDA only has the power to regulate
genetically engineered crops that are
potential plant pests.
Pathogens are commonly used to
alter crop genetics, so the USDA eval-
uates the plants to ensure they don’t in-
herit disease-causing or parasitic traits.
Turn to GMO, Page 12
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California farmer John Duarte, second
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