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Hi, I'm Amanda! My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm also a practicing attorney.

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Montana Introduces Bill to Promote Uniform Seed Regulation

February 27, 2017

Boulder County, Colorado. Jackson County, Oregon. Sonoma County, California. Josephine County, Oregon. Maui County, Hawaii. Benton County, Oregon.

What do all these places have in common? At some point, each of these counties have had to decide whether or not to ban the use of genetically modified crops. In all except the last, those measures have successfully passed as ballot measures or by local ordinance. Too bad for you, farmers.

It’s a tactic we’ve seen play out over and over again. Those opposed to genetically engineered crops do not really have much chance at changing things at the federal level, let alone outright banning the cultivation of biotech crops. Instead, these groups move from one county to the next, targeting demographics of people that are likely to sympathize with their anti-GMO stance, and ban the use of GMOs. When campaigning in support of a ballot measure, we usually see misinformation and demonizing rhetoric. I wouldn’t necessarily want to be a conventional farmer in one of those areas (though some places, such as Sonoma County, don’t even have that many farmers to begin with…).

But the state of Montana isn’t going to have it.

The Montana Senate Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation committee passed Senate Bill 155 in a 7-4 vote. The legislation would prohibit local governments, which includes counties, from regulating the “cultivation, harvesting, production, processing, registration, labeling, marketing, sale, storage, transportation, distribution, possession, notification of use, use and planting of agricultural seeds or vegetables seeds.” In other words, such regulation could only be had at the state level, which is a much harder win if you’re an anti-GMO group. It is also worth mentioning that the regulation does not apply specifically to GMO seeds – all seed regulation is prohibited at the local level. You can read the full text of the legislation here.

Now, if you have really been paying attention, you know that Oregon has a similar law in effect. It created a somewhat weird result where the Josephine County ban was deemed moot, though the Jackson County ban was enforceable, based on the timing of the ballot proposals. Naturally, as tends to happen in Oregon, anti-GMO activists are now trying to repeal the state ban. Nonetheless, at least one county was ultimately protected from a GMO cultivation ban based on that law.

Montana isn’t facing the same wave of anti-GMO feelings, but the law is still a good idea.

There is absolutely no reason why local officials should have regulatory authority such as this. Most states have some type of department or agency dedicated to agriculture, which is much more capable of handling the regulation of seeds. These agencies have the funding and scientific foundation to confidently and competently oversee seed regulation for the entire state, and are much less likely to base decisions on bad information or fear-based messaging. Furthermore, local bans are usually the result of misinformation, and fail to actually promote any economic or social purposes.

They also hurt farmers. Many farmers have fields that are spread out and can cross several county lines, including us! Imagine how difficult it would be to try and follow haphazard regulations from one county to the next, especially if a particular field lies in two counties! It is also ridiculous that people with no knowledge or understanding of modern farming should be making key decisions about how we run our farms. While we’re more than willing to transition to better practices for the environment and consumers, we want that information to come from trusted sources with scientific-backing. Ill-informed campaigns limiting our options for no substantive reason is unfair and cripples family farms.

Finally, the use of genetically modified crops has a lot of benefits for farmers, the environment, and consumers!

That’s why it is important for Montana – and other states! – to pass this type of legislation. Let’s stop these absurd seed regulations before they’re able to take root (pun intended).

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Filed Under: Bans, Government Affairs, Production Methods Tagged With: GMO, gmos, government, legislation, seed

Comments

  1. Krista Lee Evans says

    February 27, 2017 at 2:45 pm

    This applies to all growers — this protects organic growers as much as those who choose to grow biotech. This is a good law for Montana farmers.

Hi, I'm Amanda. My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm an attorney and I'm passionate about agriculture!

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Amanda | The Farmer's Daughter USA
I'm a proud farmer's daughter & advocate for modern agriculture. U.S. farmers are leaders in sustainability.

Amanda Zaluckyj
Just a reminder. #agriculture #usagriculture #far Just a reminder.

#agriculture #usagriculture #farmers #usfarmers #farming #farmfamilies #sustainableag #sustainableagriculture #sustainable #sustainability #farmerscare #homegrown #localagriculture #knowyourfarmer #shoplocal #madeintheusa #madeintheus #americanagriculture
Happy Thanksgiving! I realized this morning that Happy Thanksgiving!

I realized this morning that it's been 20 years since I performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. What a trip!

I hope you and yours have a lovely day! 🦃
Honestly, what is she even doing?? #Mischa #dogsl Honestly, what is she even doing??

#Mischa
#dogslife
She's got me. #dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime She's got me. 

#dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime
Some of you see this picture and appreciate the vi Some of you see this picture and appreciate the view. Our grain cart driver (mom) just sees that scary hill to drive up. 🫣

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #harvest23🌾
Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today. 🤣

Oh, lawyer jokes. Listen, if you can't make fun or yourself and have a little fun, what are you even doing?
It's true. My puppy. 💜💜 It's true. My puppy. 💜💜
The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the b The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the beans still have very high moisture content. It's so high the granary won't accept them. So we'll have to dry them.

The big concern with soybeans is that the pods won't pop open. If that happens, they'll be discarded  out the back of the combine with the other plant material. Obviously not what we want to happen. After testing a bit, enough were opening that we felt like we should just get started.

Slow going, but at least it's going!

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #fearfree #cleanfood #foodsafety #dietfads #FactsNotFear #cleaneatingdiet #foodlabels #truth #cleaneating #Harvest2023
We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture content.

We're currently about 4 weeks behind. But we can't start because our crops are still too wet. The moisture content is the amount of water in each kernel or soybean. If there's too much, they can spoil in storage. If it's really too high, then combine has a hard time handling it.

For corn, the sweet spot is about 15%. We have a dryer system on the farm that can help finish the kernels to the correct moisture level. But the dryer takes a lot of energy to run, so its cost prohibitive if the moisture content is too high. And if we try to sell the crop when it's too wet, we'll take a price hit at the grain elevator. So either the granary dries it, we dry it, or Mother Nature dries it. Right now, it's still too wet for after-harvest drying.

The other complication is that IT. JUST. KEEPS. RAINING. That doesn't help because the corn doesn't have a chance to dry out, and it maintains that moisture. We need some warm, dry days to speed up the process.

So, for now, we're still waiting...

#harvest23
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