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That bombshell was tucked into the middle of an article about Boulder, CO's fight to keep 6 farmers from planting GMOs on 1000 acres of public land in Boulder county. The farmers (who lease the land) have been pissing and moaning that their business is finished if they can't use GM sugarbeets.
The farmers say they won't meet the quotas set by the Western Sugar Cooperative, an organization they are members of. If they fail to meet their quotas - which they say they can't do without Roundup Ready sugarbeets - they'll be fined. And - they add - because the new Roundup Ready beets are so popular (they were only legalized a year ago), non-GM sugarbeets may no longer be sold in the near future.
I suppose it's too soon to judge the ability of GM sugarbeets to increase yields. As you can see in the Union of Concerned Scientist report Failure to Yield, GM soy and corn do not make good on their promises of increased yields. And, be sure to note that after you pay for GM seeds and the technology fees for using the GM technology, you NEED a higher yield just to cover the costs. So what's more expensive to the farmers? The fine from the co-operative or the increased cost of planting and using additional Roundup? And - as Boulder residents point out - what happens if a superweed (like this one) develops to resist Roundup?
From what I've been able to find online, it seems like about half of U.S. sugar comes from sugar beets and the rest is from sugarcane. Given that fact, I think I'm sticking to organic sugar, evaporated cane juice, and to other sweeteners (agave nectar, local honey, maple syrup).
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