Majority of American organic farmers at risk from GM

Over three-quarters of organic farms in America are at risk from GM contamination, according to new research, and half of the organic farmers in the country have taken action to try to protect their livelihoods.

A nationwide survey conducted by the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) in America, asked over 1,000 certified organic farmers about the direct financial and related operational impacts associated with the threat of contamination by GMOs. The data also showed that 1 in 12 (8%) organic farmers have already faced direct costs or damage because of GM contamination.

"In 1998, when OFRF conducted our previous survey, GMO contamination was not yet a national issue," said OFRF Executive Director Bob Scowcroft. "These new survey results based on the 2001 crop year document that significant impacts have begun to occur within a very short time frame. If this trend continues, what we're seeing now will prove to be just the tip of the iceberg."

The OFRF is calling for a moratorium on the release of GMOs until there is a solid regulatory framework that prevents genetic pollution and assigns liability for the damages imposed by GMO contamination.

The cost of testing seeds and other inputs for GMOs was highlighted as a financial problem, and farmers also reported that they are losing sales due to actual contamination or perceived contamination.

A fifth have increased the size of buffer zones with neighbouring farms, while others have stopped using certain inputs, adjusted timing of crop planting, altered cropping patterns or crops produced, or have changed cropping locations.

Survey respondents identified contaminated seed stock as their primary concern as a possible source of GMO contamination of their organic farm products. This was followed by GMO pollen drift in the field and contaminated farm inputs such as bought-in manures and composts.

Only 10 percent of survey respondents felt that a regulatory framework is in place to adequately protect their organic farm products from damages due to contamination from GMOs.

For details about the survey, Sustaining Organic Farms in a Changing Organic Marketplace, contact www.ofrf.org or Bob Scowcroft, OFRF Executive Director, 00 1 435-826-4565.