In 2015, Oregon lawmakers passed House Bill 2509, which created mediation protocols for growers who believe nearby farming practices are interfering with their operations.
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Since the law was passed, though, the agency has received no requests for mediation under the program, Walker said.
Growers can seek similar mediation through the USDA, but none have expressed interest with that agency, either.
Problems of cross-pollination among GMOs and other crops aren’t prevalent, said Barry Bushue, president of the Oregon Farm Bureau.
“My guess is there’s probably not a lot of need for it,” Bushue said of the GMO mediation program.
Bushue pointed to a USDA survey that found only 92 organic farms across the U.S. experienced crop losses from GMOs between 2011 and 2014, while the nation has more than 14,000 organic farms.
“It’s incredibly small,” he said.
Oregonians for Food and Shelter, an agribusiness group, wants to know what kind of problems exist, but the lack of conflicts reported to ODA or USDA indicate they’re likely minimal, said Scott Dahlman, the group’s policy director.
“It speaks volumes to the fact that farmers know how to work together and find ways to figure it out themselves,” he said.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Oregon GMO mediation needs legislative fix
