Groups seek court order blocking planting of Roundup Ready sugar beets

Groups want to stop Roundup Ready sugar beets

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Lawyers for organic seed growers and food safety advocates want a judge to stop farmers from planting sugar beet seed this spring that has been genetically altered to resist an herbicide made by Monsanto.

Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff said Wednesday they want to prevent cross-pollination with sugar beets that have not been altered to withstand the herbicide Roundup while the government reconsiders whether it is safe.

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled last year that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service failed to take a hard look at cross-pollination when it approved the biotech sugar beets.

About half of the U.S. sugar crop comes from Roundup Ready sugar beets.