Next on the horizon, gopher eating grass...

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New grass gives hope and worry

Published: March 7, 2004

By Jeanene Harlick

The Bend Bulletin

 

MADRAS -- Mutant weeds that terrorize wildlands, laughing in

the face of potent herbicides, sounds more like a scene out

of a sci-fi movie than something applicable to the green

furrows of bentgrass stretching north toward the horizon.

 

Seed grower Don Boyle showed off the fields to a visitor

recently, pointing to the border of creeping red fescue

grass designed to trap errant seeds of the

genetically-modified crop from spreading.

 

"It's not very impressive, I'm afraid," he said of the

infant crop.

 

The stubby bentgrass, months away from flowering, was indeed

not much to see. But the 400 acres of it growing in and

around Madras, some say, is one of the most controversial

crops to come out of bioengineering.

 

Boyle recited the laundry list of precautions he and other

growers take to grow the bentgrass -- "900-foot borders,

dedicated combines, and more," giving ample evidence of the

risks.

 

With the deadline for public comment on Roundup Ready

Creeping Bentgrass having come and passed Friday, the U.S.

Department of Agriculture (USDA) is poised to issue a yea or

nay on commercialization of the genetically-modified turf grass.

 

There's a collection of environmentalists, scientists, and

rival seed growers already weighing in against the

bentgrass. But the golf course staple is so potentially

lucrative it has local farmers, hurting for new specialty

crops, almost salivating.

 

With about 17,000 golf courses nationwide needing hundreds

of pounds of grass seed yearly, it's not hard to do the math

-- the market for a wonder grass is big, at least for

Central Oregon farmers.

 

Between 3,000 and 6,000 acres of conventional bentgrass are

currently grown yearly -- almost all in the Willamette

Valley. The potential market could grow if

herbicide-resistant bentgrass proves popular. Local growers

hope to start selling the product, developed by the

Ohio-based Scotts Company, next spring.

 

First planted in a Jefferson County control district during

fall 2002, the crop yielded its first harvest last summer.

 

Seed volumes defied even the most optimistic expectations.

 

"It's going to be an excellent crop," said Ron Olson,

co-founder of New Era Seed, the local company formed to

clean, package, ship and manage the new bentgrass seed in

cooperation with Scotts. "Every grower that participated

this year wants more acres, and those that opted not to

plant would like to do so."

 

The harvested seed is being housed in warehouses pending

USDA approval.

 

Golf course superintendents nationwide are eyeing the grass

just as eagerly. In a recent survey, half said

Roundup-resistant bentgrass was the turf that would have the

greatest impact on the golf course industry in the coming

decade.

 

The grass is immune to glyphosate, the main ingredient of

the popular herbicide Roundup. By allowing golf courses to

blanket, rather than spot spray, greens and fairways, the

bioengineered crop would save groundskeepers untold time and

money in weed management.

 

Pesticide use on courses would decrease by as much as

500,000 pounds a year as well, grounds-keepers say, due to

the eradication of unruly weeds such as annual bluegrass

that require multiple herbicides to tame.

 

Transgenic crops risky, environmentalists say

 

But golf courses and growers will have to prevail against

environmentalists and rival seed growers who say Scotts'

genetically-modified crop poses unprecedented risks for

contamination. Unlike most transgenic crops approved so far,

creeping bentgrass breeds easily with wild relatives -- at

least 12 varieties of them, according to a USDA risk

assessment. At least four of those species are weeds in

certain environments, the USDA said. Bentgrass is also the

first wind-pollinated perennial -- a crop that lasts three

or more years as opposed to corn or soybeans -- to undergo

genetic manipulation.

 

Opponents say that spells trouble. If pollen from

genetically-modified bentgrass crosses with that of wild

species, creating Roundup-resistant hybrids, "superweeds"

will result, they say. Instead of a miracle grass, farmers,

golf courses and golf courses' suburban neighborhoods will

have a plant pest nearly impossible to control.

 

"The agriculture community says, 'Oh, we'll just use another

herbicide.' But those herbicides are going to be even more

toxic than glyphosate," said Jane Rissler, senior staff

scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, an

organization that opposes the deregulation of transgenic

bentgrass.

 

Even bigger names are lining up to battle -- including the

Nature Conservancy, the Center for Technology Assessment and

the Sierra Club, which say more research is needed before

deregulation moves forward. Nearly 400 scientists, advocacy

groups, concerned citizens and more had submitted comments

to the USDA by late Friday, according to its Web site. That

includes both opponents and supporters of deregulation.

 

"I think this public comment period will produce more

opposition than any other genetically-engineered product,"

said Peter Jenkins, a policy analyst with the Center for

Technology Assessment.

 

The issue is so contentious that local farmers growing

experimental bentgrass have been warned against eco-terrorism.

 

It would not be the first time the phenomenon struck Oregon.

 

In 2000, biotech vandals attacked the experimental crops of

Willamette Valley seed grower Bill Rose, who is currently

developing a rival strain of herbicide-resistant bentgrass.

Rose's Tee-2-Green Corp. produces 80 percent of the world's

conventional bentgrass.

 

Vandals overturned and stomped on Rose's grass plots,

spray-painting slogans like "Nature Bites Back." They caused

$500,000 in damage, he said. The Anarchist Golfing

Association claimed responsibility for the sabotage.

 

 

Bentgrass Study may confirm fears

 

A new study of herbicide-resistant bentgrass conducted by

Oregon State University may confirm environmental activists'

worst fears. Charting gene flow in Jefferson County, it

discovered the Roundup resistant gene in redtop, a native

wild grass abundant in nature. Studies by Rose have also

shown that pollen from bioengineered bentgrass travels as

far as 4,300 feet.

 

Rissler, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, and others

fear genetically-modified bent-grass will go the route of

Canadian canola, but with even more harmful results. Just

five years after a variety of herbicide-resistant canola

crops were introduced, a hybrid canola species immune to

three different herbicides -- Roundup, Liberty and Pursuit

-- was discovered recently in Alberta. To kill it, farmers

have to spray "2,4-D," a heavy-duty pesticide that has been

associated with cancer, Rissler said.

 

*ff you recognize the name "2,4-D", it might be because it's

one of the active ingredients of Agent Orange. note the

interesting term "associated with" in place of "causes".*

 

"Why we should be running this type of risk so golf courses

are a little bit more pristine is beyond me," said Philip

Bereano, a University of Washington professor and co-founder

of the Washington Biotechnology Council. "This product is

being developed by a company that sees a niche market and is

concerned with making profits, not with protecting the

environment."

 

Norman Ellstrand, a University of California at Riverside

genetics professor, advised excessive caution in the

approval of transgenic bentgrass. Once loosed upon the

natural environment, an engineered gene multiplies rapidly

through reproduction, making it "almost impossible to do any

kind of recall," he said.

 

*note the word excessive instead of exreme*

 

"This is an unprecedented case where (manipulated genes)

will move readily into the wild population, and there's

every reason to expect them to persist," said Ellstrand, who

recently helped pen a National Research Council book on

biotechnology, "Evolution will occur. Glyphosate exerts

tremendous selection -- those plants will thrive. It's going

to be evolution in action."

 

Rival grower says his bentgrass is safer

 

Rose, the Willamette Valley seed grower, says the strong

winds of Madras and pollen's 3-hour shelf life increase the

risk of Roundup-resistant weeds. The area's semi-arid

climate, with its cool nights, warm days, low humidity and

mild summers, creates an environment where seeds thrive.

 

Rose believes the danger Scotts Company bentgrass poses to

local seed crops far outweighs potential benefits. Redtop,

for example, the species OSU researchers found Roundup

resistance in, is a serious weed for some seed growers, he said.

 

"Already our distributor in Europe insists that no seed from

(Jefferson County) be shipped to him," said Rose.

 

Some chalk Rose's opposition to Roundup-resistant bentgrass

up to its threat on his corner of the market. Rose brushes

off those accusations, saying it's the future of

genetically-modified grass he fears for. If the

Roundup-resistant bentgrass under development by Scotts ends

in weedy disaster, it will dash the chances of other, safer,

bioengineered grasses, he said.

 

Those include a variety currently in development by Rose

himself. He has pioneered a technology that genetically

castrates plants, rendering pollen sterile. Rose says this

technology creates herbicide-resistant bentgrass that's far

safer than Scotts'. Rose is also seeking USDA approval of

his product.

 

Scotts says hybrids won't pose a threat

 

The scientists who created Scotts' bentgrass have a ready

defense for Rose and other critics. Michael Kenna, research

director for the U.S. Golf Association, which was involved

in the early development of the product, pointed out that

"male sterile" technology such as Rose's is far from perfect

and has yet to be proven safe or effective. Ellstrand, of

U.C. Riverside, agreed. And while the technology, if

successful, could greatly reduce gene flow, crops would

still carry the risk of interbreeding with wild species and

passing on sterility, he said.

 

Dr. Kevin Turner, director of seed research and production

at Scotts, said it's not Rose, environmentalists or other

opponents the company has to worry about, but the USDA. And

that agency has already given Scotts the initial go-ahead

despite knowing creeping bentgrass' fondness for mating with

relatives, Turner said. That's because such inter-breeding

is a common trait of outcrossing plants, or plants whose

pollen travels.

 

"The reaction to the data is a bit irritating to me. People

are making it sound like it's new information, but it isn't.

The data says, 'Hey, (interbreeding) occurs, isn't that

interesting?' Well no, it's kind of old news," he said. "Our

data has to show that the product of the (interbreeding)

does not become a serious weed." Mallory-Smith, the OSU

researcher, also said the fact that Scotts bentgrass mated

with redtop, passing on Roundup resistance, is not

surprising, she said.

 

"It's common for an outcrossing species. Whether transgenic

or not, they're going to have pollen flow," she said. "The

findings are not unusual or unexpected."

 

Bentgrass doesn't breed with unrelated grass like bluegrass

or rye grass, varieties grown in Central Oregon, Turner

said. And the wild hybrids that might form from its breeding

with relatives will be no harder to control than

conventional bentgrass. They would be easily killed with

herbicides other than Roundup, or mechanical removal, Turner

said. Bentgrass and its relatives compete poorly in the

wild, he added.

 

Stringent safety precautions that will be required of golf

courses -- such as not allowing grass to reach a height

where it could produce seed -- will also minimize risk,

Turner said.

 

"This coming year, there will be more than 100 million acres

of biotech crops grown in the United States. Why are people

trying to instill fear? After close to a decade now we still

haven't seen a single health issue" from bioengineering,

Turner said.

 

Local farmers see future in niche crops

 

Local growers hope Turner is right. Unable to compete with

big farms such as the wheat and potato growers in the

Columbia Basin, many Central Oregon farmers rely on niche

crops that are always in flux, and always in short supply.

As younger farmers leave the industry for jobs that pay the

mortgage, the ones remaining have placed their hopes in

crops like Roundup-resistant bentgrass. Even as few as a

thousand acres of the crop could help reinvigorate the area,

they say.

 

"I (represent) the younger generation, and I'm near 40. What

does that tell you about agriculture?" said Phil Fine, a

Madras area farmer currently growing the experimental turf.

 

"Roundup Ready bentgrass is one of those specialty crops

that you actually have the opportunity to make some decent

money on, and there are very few of those left. Everything

you read says this is the way agriculture is going in the

future."

 

Jeanene Harlick can be reached at 541-408-2606 or at

jharlick