A recent USDA analysis indicates that U.S. sugar beet production next year could be reduced by around 20 percent if producers are banned from planting genetically engineered beets. Bioengineered beets currently account for 95 percent of beet production.
The study was prepared in connection with a federal court case that will determine whether growers can continue to plant biotech beets. In August, a judge threw out USDA's initial approval for their use, noting that USDA did not do adequate research into likely effects the genetically altered beets might have on the environment. Those studies currently are underway, but USDA officials say they likely will take as long as two years to complete.
If the court decision stands, the concern is whether enough traditional sugar beet seeds will be available for next spring's season, taking into consideration that it takes about two years to produce seeds and some seed operations may have shut down following the August decision.
Sugar beet seed is grown in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The growers there stopped producing conventional sugar beet seed in 2008 and switched over to glyphosate-resistant seed instead. Adding to beet farmers' problems is that chemical companies now have stopped making non-glyphosate herbicides, meaning there may be no effective weed protection for conventional sugar beets.
Sugar beets account for about 60 percent of domestic U.S. sugar production. A shortage of traditional seeds would likely cut 1.6 million short tons from next year's sugar beet crop, according to a USDA analysis prepared by Daniel Colacicco, director of the department's dairy and sweetener analysis group.
Strict quotas imposed by the United States on sugar imports mean it will be difficult to make up any shortfall by bringing in sugar from other countries. And tight supplies outside the United States are already driving up sugar prices.
Judge Jeffrey White of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California was scheduled Oct. 22 to hear arguments on the case. As we go to press, there has been no indication of what, if anything, was decided during that court session.
Several weeks ago, USDA announced it would allow sugar beet seed companies to grow genetically engineered seedlings this fall, but environmental groups immediately sued to block that approval. That case is still pending.
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