A survey of alfalfa growers from across the U.S. found that fewer than a third had planted the genetically engineered Roundup Ready variety of the crop.
However, those farmers represented more than 50 percent of the surveyed acreage, according to researchers from the University of California-Davis.
The biotech crop, which can withstand glyphosate herbicides, was developed by the Monsanto Co. to ease weed control. It was deregulated by USDA in early 2011 after a court-ordered environmental review.
Though transgenic alfalfa has been a controversial source of litigation, nearly two-thirds of farmers who don’t grow the crop believe that other growers should be allowed to cultivate it, either with or without restriction.
Philosophical opposition to genetic engineering, adherence to organic production and the higher cost of biotech seed were the top three reasons farmers said they did not grow Roundup Ready alfalfa, according to the survey.
Among the surveyed farmers who did grow the crop, about 90 percent said they were satisfied or very pleased with the technology, or that it far exceeded their expectations. The most commonly cited negative among these farmers was the higher cost of seed.
About 85 percent of farmers who grew the crop said they weren’t concerned about gene flow to nonbiotech alfalfa, which has been a major point of contention in lawsuits over the cultivar.
More than half the farmers who grew biotech alfalfa said they were taking some precautions against cross-pollination, such as cutting fields prebloom, using buffer distances, coordinating cutting schedules or cleaning equipment.
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