National & World Ag News Headlines Supreme Court Urged to Decide on Biotech Seed Case USAgNet - 03/10/2010 A court's requirement that the Agriculture Department conduct environmental studies on new genetically engineered crops harms farmers and consumers around the world by delaying biotech seeds from reaching the market, farm groups and the seed industry are telling the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court is considering an appeal of a lower court ruling that stopped farmers from planting herbicide-resistant alfalfa until the USDA had done an environmental impact study of the crop. The USDA has since finished the study and is moving toward clearing the crop for commercial use once again, but the seed companies and farm groups say the delay was unfair and unnecessary. Another judge has recently ruled that the department’s review of biotech sugar beets was insufficient. The sugar beets, like the alfalfa, are immune to Roundup herbicide. Roundup-tolerant soybeans and corn, which have been in wide use for years, are not affected by the rulings. But in a friend-of-the-court brief filed Monday, the industry groups warn that similar court rulings could amount to defacto bans on crops,'charting a similar course' to Europe, where many countries have effectively prohibited the planting of genetically modified crops. "Decisions like the injunction against Roundup Ready alfalfa dramatically increase the degree of uncertainty surrounding the availability of these genetically engineered crops and can greatly slow the government's deregulation process," according to the brief. In case the court is any doubt at what is at stake in this case, at least in the industry's view, the brief asserts that agricultural biotechnology 'offers a way to help feed the world's population through safe, sustainable farming techniques that could raise the standard of living in rural communities around the globe.' The groups that joined the brief include the American Farm Bureau Federation, Biotechnology Industry Organization, American Seed Trade Association, National Cotton Council, American Soybean Association and National Association of Wheat Growers. The National Corn Growers Association did not participate. Copyright © 2010 - USAgNet.com. All Rights Reserved.