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Fate of Roundup Ready beets in judge’s hands After an early-season freeze last fall crushed hopes for what could have been a record-setting sugar beet crop, area farmers now are hanging in limbo as they await a federal judge’s decision. Environmental groups, organic sugar beet growers and others have asked Judge Jeffrey White to prohibit the planting of Roundup Ready beets until the U.S. Department of Agriculture can reassess the environmental and economic impact of the genetically-modified plant. Roundup Ready beets were approved for planting in 2005. Park County ranks No. 1 in sugar beet production in Wyoming. Last year, about 95 percent of the nation’s sugar beets were of the Roundup Ready variety — that percentage may be even higher in Wyoming. Farmers have long since ordered their Roundup Ready seed for this year. Now, as area farmers prepare to plant, the fate of this season’s crop rests in the hands of a California judge, who said on Friday he would take the request under advisement and issue a ruling shortly. While the economic impact of such a ruling is speculative, it’s clear that such an injunction would have dire consequences for local farmers — and to the area’s economy. The injunction, if granted, could sound the death knell for many area farmers already reeling from the blow wrought by Mother Nature last fall. While the USDA needs to fully assess the safety of genetically-modified crops, including Roundup Ready beets, a blanket injunction at this point would have catastrophic effects on the sugar industry — and on the existence of family farms throughout the West.
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