Santa Cruz, California
May 15, 2003
In a nationwide survey conducted
by the Organic Farming
Research Foundation (OFRF), certified organic farmers have
reported the first direct financial and related operational
impacts associated with the threat of contamination by
genetically modified organisms (GMOs). National standards for
organic products, recently implemented by the U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture exclude recombinant-DNA technologies from use in
organic farming. In addition, there are a variety of strict
tolerances for GMO contamination imposed on organic growers by
foreign and domestic buyers.
Coping with the threat and consequences of GMO contamination is
a recent development for organic
farmers. “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.”
According to OFRF President Ron Rosmann, a diversified organic
farmer from Harlan, Iowa, “This new
data supports OFRF’s call 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.” (OFRF’s Organizational Policy Statement on
Genetic Engineering in Agriculture is
available at <http://ofrf.org/policy/gmopolicy.html>.)
The OFRF survey, Sustaining Organic Farms in a Changing Organic
Marketplace, included nine
questions related to GMOs and organic farming. Highlights of the
survey results are as follows:
- 17% of survey respondents
indicated that they have had GMO testing conducted on some
portion of their organic farm seed, inputs or farm products.
11% of those that had GMO testing conducted indicated that
they received positive test results for GMO contamination on
some portion of their organic seed, inputs or farm products.
- 8% of the respondents
indicated that their organic farm operation has borne some
direct costs or damages related to the presence of GMOs in
agriculture. These costs include: payment for testing seed,
inputs, or organic farm products for GMO contamination; loss
of organic sales/markets due to actual contamination or
perceived contamination risk; loss of sales due to presence of
GMOS in organic product; or loss of organic certification due
to presence of GMOs in organic products.
- 48% of the survey respondents
indicated that they have taken some measures to protect their
organic farms from GMO contamination. The greatest percentage,
24%, indicated that they have communicated with neighboring
farmers about GMO risks to their farm.
- 19% indicated that they have
increased the size of buffer zones to neighboring farms, 18%
have
discontinued use of certain inputs at risk for GMO
contamination, 15% have adjusted timing of crop planting, 13%
have altered cropping patterns or crops produced, and 9% have
changed cropping locations.
- 46% of the survey respondents
rated the risk of exposure and possible contamination of their
organic farm products by GMOs as moderate or greater, with 30%
characterizing their farm’s risk as high or very high.
Survey respondents identified
contaminated seed stock as their primary concern as a possible
source
of GMO contamination of their organic farm products (identified
as a moderate to high risk by 48% of
respondents). This was followed by GMO pollen drift in the field
(identified as a moderate to high risk by 42% of respondents)
and contaminated farm inputs, other than seed, (identified by
30% of respondents as a moderate to high risk). Such inputs
might include seed inoculants or manures and composts from
materials obtained from off the farm.
Only 10% of survey respondents feel that a regulatory framework
is in place to adequately protect their
organic farm products from damages due to contamination from
GMOs.
In spring 2002, OFRF mailed a 22-page survey to certified
organic farmers throughout the U.S, with
1,034 farmers responding. The 4th National Organic Farmers’
Survey, Sustaining Organic Farms in a
Changing Organic Marketplace, is OFRF’s first survey to focus
specifically on organic farmers’
experiences in the organic market. The survey was conducted with
support from True North Foundation, Wallace Genetic Foundation,
the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, and contributors to
OFRF’s general program fund.
The OFRF survey included 8 sections: Farm profile; Production
and product detail; Marketing your
organic products; Organic market conditions, 2001; Information
and services; Marketing orders and
organic; GMOs and organic; and More about you and your farm
(demographics).
OFRF surveys collect and disseminate information on the
demographics, production, marketing and
research priorities of organic farmers in the U.S. The survey
population is developed from producer
certification lists voluntarily provided by organic
certification agencies.
OFRF survey results relevant to GMOs and organic farms will be
released this week at the Organic
Trade Association’s All Things Organic Conference and Trade Show
in Austin, Texas. The complete
results of OFRF’s 4th National Organic Farmers’ Survey:
Sustaining Organic Farms in a Changing
Organic Marketplace will be published in fall 2003.
Power Point presentation of the
gmo survey results in PDF format:
http://ofrf.org/publications/survey/GMO.SurveyResults.PDF
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