BIG AGGRO GETS ATTEMPTS TO SQUASH CALIFORNIA ANTI-GMO

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California's Agricultural Industry Gears Up to Fight for GM Crops

 

The nascent movement against genetically modified crops in California

has spurred the state's agricultural industry to action. Ballot

measures banning the cultivation of GM crops have already passed in

Mendocino and Trinity counties, and will appear on November ballots

in Butte, Humboldt, Marin, and San Luis Obispo counties. Now,

agricultural groups like the Farm Bureau and the California Rice

Commission are gearing up to fight the measures. Much of California

cropland is devoted to specialty crops that do not yet have GM

options, but many farmers want to leave the possibility open; they

also worry that an excessively granola message from the state will

keep big biotech money away. Biotech backers in Sacramento are

looking into legislation that would prevent such county efforts, and

officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are exploring a legal

challenge to the ballot initiatives.

 

straight to the source: The Sacramento Bee, Mike Lee, 16 Aug 2004

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