State of Maine Supports Dairy Being Sued by Monsanto

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http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbgh/maine_dairy.cfm


State of Maine Supports Dairy Being Sued by Monsanto
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Maine AG steps in to back Oakhurst
By MATT WICKENHEISER, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright <http://www.pressherald.com/copyright.shtml> ? 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe is officially supporting Oakhurst Dairy in the lawsuit it faces from Monsanto Corp.

In a motion filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston, Rowe argues that the case could damage or halt Maine's Quality Trademark agricultural marketing program, which certifies dairies that do not give artificial growth hormones to their cows.

"The program, which encourages the production of milk in Maine without the use of (artificial growth hormones), would effectively be nullified if
(Monsanto's) suit is successful," Rowe wrote in the "friend of the court" motion. "Maine has a strong interest in defending the public policy embodied in the laws establishing its Quality Trademark program."

Rowe also asked that the case be moved from Boston to Maine, an argument made this month by Oakhurst attorney John Ciraldo.

Missouri-based Monsanto Corp. sued Oakhurst in July, saying Oakhurst's claim that its milk doesn't contain artificial growth hormones is essentially misleading. It demands that Oakhurst stop advertising that it doesn't use milk from hormone-treated cows. It also asks that the dairy stop putting labels reading "Our Farmers' Pledge: No Artificial Growth Hormones" on its milk jugs.

On Wednesday, Monsanto spokesman Lee Quarles said his company hadn't yet seen Rowe's motions, though he had seen a copy of the release issued by the Attorney General's Office. The company believes the lawsuit was appropriately filed in Boston, Quarles said.

Oakhurst, which is based in Portland, argues that the case belongs in Portland rather than Boston because only 7 percent of Oakhurst's sales occur in Massachusetts and just 1.5 percent of its marketing dollars are spent there. The case centers on the dairy's advertising practices.

Monsanto says no scientific evidence exists to prove that milk from cows treated with the hormones differs from the milk of untreated cows. It also argues that Oakhurst's "Farmer's Pledge" slogan confuses consumers into staying away from milk from treated cows.

Rowe said in a written statement that he could see "no good legal reason for forcing a dairy to keep secret the fact that its milk comes from cows free of artificial growth hormones."

"I hope (Rowe's motion) will help in the change of venue motion," Ciraldo said, "but more importantly I'm happy to see the state take a formal interest in the lawsuit, because it can have a huge adverse effect on Maine consumers.

"What the state is saying, and what we've been saying, is if Monsanto is successful, there will be no way for a consumer of milk to know if the cows that produce the milk were treated with the artificial growth hormone or not. I think that's a very important issue," Ciraldo said.

Ciraldo said he expects a decision on the change-of-venue motion in early September. A trial date of Jan. 6, 2004, has been set, he said, but that will likely be changed if the case is moved to Maine.

Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the bovine growth hormone, Canada and the European Union have banned it. Some organizations and consumers who oppose the use of growth hormones believe they are linked to breast cancer and premature puberty in children.

Monsanto is the nation's largest producer of the synthetically produced hormone. This isn't the first time Monsanto has had issues with dairy-product labeling in Maine. Earlier this year, Rowe rejected a request by the company that Maine abandon its Quality Trademark program.

Monsanto argued that the seal, adopted in 1994, misleads consumers into thinking that hormone-free milk is superior to milk from cows that get growth hormones - just as it does in the lawsuit against Oakhurst. Both Oakhurst and H.P. Hood use the Maine seal to promote their products.

Attorneys arguing that the seal program be stopped said Maine lacks an adequate system to monitor affidavits it accepts from farmers who pledge not to use the growth hormone.

In addition, they said, the FDA has recommended that any label that says the product is free of artificial hormones should appear in the proper context with accompanying information, such as "no significant difference has been shown between milk derived from (hormone)-treated and non-(hormone)-treated cows."

Quarles, Monsanto's spokesman, said, "We have a simple request in this case
- that Oakhurst's labels comply with the Food and Drug Administration's guidelines.

"If Oakhurst's labels and promotional materials reflect the scientific conclusions as well as its pledge, then consumers will be able to make their choices based on personal preferences - even a preference for milk from cows produced without the use of (artificial hormones)," Quarles said.

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http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/g...s_hebicide.cfm

Herbicide Drift from GM Crops In Arkansas Damaging Adjoining Rice Fields
Drift damages Arkansas rice fields
Lamar James

FARM PRESS Online, Aug 13, 2003

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.

As rice begins to mature, some Arkansas farmers are
finding symptoms of damage from Roundup herbicide drift. The damage potential is great, according to Bob Scott, weed scientist with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. "Even low levels of drift can cause as much as a 50 percent or more yield reduction in rice," he said. Last year, the statewide average rice yield was a record 6,440 pounds per acre. "Arkansas has so much more rice than other states that we seem to have the lion's share of the drift problem," Scott noted. The problem is caused by Roundup herbicide or other products containing glyphosate, Roundup's active ingredient, being sprayed on soybean fields and drifting over to adjacent rice fields. It happens when rice has reached the reproductive stage and becomes sensitive to the herbicide. The majority of Arkansas' 2.9 million acres of soybeans has been genetically modified to tolerate Roundup, Scott said. The 1.4 million-acre rice crop, however, has no tolerance to the herbicide.

"Farmers will begin noticing the problem when rice starts to head. Symptoms don't show up well until then." He said the heads will be deformed or blank, and the flag leaf, or topmost leaf, will be reduced in length by as much as two-thirds. "Unfortunately, this year, we had a lot of soybeans that needed to be sprayed at the same time rice was in the reproductive stage because a lot of beans were planted later. So we have more potential than usual for a lot of drift damage." Scott said farmers may think they're seeing straighthead disease symptoms when they're really seeing symptoms of Roundup or glyphosate injury. Some farmers are surprised because they've not had straighthead before. A glyphosate-damaged field appears to be stunted because of the small flag leaf. With straighthead disease, the flag leaf is normal. The grain in a glyphosate-damaged plant either never forms or is twisted, a condition commonly called fish-hooked or parrot-beaked.

"The drift problem is
pretty much all over the Arkansas Delta," Scott said. "Anywhere Roundup Ready soybeans are grown next to rice there is the potential for drift." The prognosis is not good. There's nothing farmers can do to correct the damage once it's done, Scott said. He said they're left with trying to determine how the mishap occurred and where fault lies. Scott said glyphosate drift is becoming more of a problem, and many farmers are becoming familiar with it because of personal experience.

Jeff Branson,
Extension rice verification program coordinator, said he saw a considerable amount of Roundup drift damage to rice last season. "Usually there's a soybean field sitting beside every rice field. If you get drift before it goes into the reproductive stage, you may not see any yield reduction." He said Roundup drift from soybeans fields aren't the only problem source. About 80 percent of Arkansas' 950,000 acres of cotton is Roundup Ready-tolerant. Branson said, "The main thing is to watch the wind. Most drift problems are caused by applying herbicides when it's too windy."

Lamar James is an Extension communications specialist with the University of Arkansas.