Injunction limits March alfalfa planting

ST. LOUIS – Monsanto Company said recently it is disappointed that a preliminary injunction will affect the plans of many farmers who want to use Roundup Ready alfalfa in their forage operations.
Injunction. The preliminary injunction was issued in a lawsuit currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California; the lawsuit was brought by the Center for Food Safety and others against the U.S. Department of Agriculture as Geertson Seed Farms Inc. et al. vs. Mike Johanns, et al.
In this case, the court had previously ruled that USDA had failed to follow procedural requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act in granting nonregulated status to Roundup Ready alfalfa under the Plant Protection Act, and would have to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
The March 12 preliminary injunction order allows continued harvest, use and sale of Roundup Ready alfalfa, but placed limits on the purchase and planting of seed until further hearings are held.
Planting limits. Growers who intend to plant Roundup Ready alfalfa and have already purchased the seed as of March 12 may do so if said seed is planted by March 30. The order also said growers intending to plant alfalfa after March 30 must plant nongenetically engineered alfalfa and that sales of Roundup Ready alfalfa seed are prohibited after March 12 pending the court’s decision.
The court has scheduled oral arguments on the nature of any permanent injunctive relief in this case for April 27.
Plaintiffs, defendants and intervenors may participate in oral arguments for this case April 27. The court has already accepted the fact that Roundup Ready alfalfa poses no harm to humans and livestock.