By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Both sides were claiming victory last week after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a lower court injunction against the planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa (RRA).

“This Supreme Court ruling is important for every American farmer, not just alfalfa growers,” said David Snively, Monsanto’s senior vice president and general counsel in a statement. “All growers can rely on the expertise of USDA and trust that future challenges to biotech approvals must now be based on scientific facts, not speculation.”
The Center for Food Safety (CFS), the group that brought the lawsuit on behalf of Geerston Farms, an organic seed business, also appeared happy with the court’s decision.

“The justices’ decision today means that the selling and planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa is illegal,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the CFS in a statement. “The ban on the crop will remain in place until a full and adequate EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) is prepared by USDA, and they officially deregulate the crop. This is a year or more away according to the agency, and even then, a deregulation move may be subject to further litigation if the agency’s analysis is not adequate. In sum, it’s a significant victory in our ongoing fight to protect farmer and consumer choice, the environment and the organic industry.”

An official from Monsanto, who didn’t want to be named for the article or quoted directly because he didn’t want to upstage the company’s official statements, said that the court’s ruling was limited to the question of whether or not the lower court’s injunction was proper, nothing else. He said what prompted the supreme court to take the case was the lower court judge’s decision to issue an injunction against the further sale of RRA until an EIS was completed. If the lower court hadn’t issued the injunction the supreme court never would have taken the case, he said.

The official added that, contrary to what the CFS is suggesting, the USDA can take interim measures to allow the planting of RRA before an EIS is completed. He said he’s hopeful that they will do that, since the agency is on record with its view that RRA is not harmful to the environment.

Monsanto also issued this statement from Steve Welker, Monsanto’s alfalfa business lead: “This is exceptionally good news received in time for the next planting season. Farmers have been waiting to hear this for quite some time. We have Roundup Ready alfalfa seed ready to deliver and await USDA guidance on its release. Our goal is to have everything in place for growers to plant in fall 2010.”

On its website, however, Monsanto cautions that the USDA has not made a final decision as to when RRA will be deregulated, allowing farmers to plant the crop again.

George Kimbrell, an attorney at CFS, insisted that the ruling was good news.

“We viewed the ruling as a victory for farmers and consumers,” Kimbrell said.

While Kimbrell acknowledged that the USDA could move to partially deregulate RRA before an EIS is completed, he said there’s no indication that it plans to do so, and even if it did he said, it would have to go through a number of steps and such a move could also be challenged.

The majority opinion in the case was 7-1, with Justice John Paul Stevens dissenting.