Source: Ukiah Daily Journal
According to a report from biotechnology advocacy group, a record number of genetically modified organisms, or biotech crops, were planted last year. But, in Mendocino County, the numbers are virtually nonexistent, thanks to both a lack of interest and a 2004 county ordinance banning their use in unincorporated areas. According to the study, published by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, 10.3 million farmers in 22 countries planted 252 million acres of GMO crops in 2006, an increase of 13 percent from 2005.

“Here we have virtually no one growing GMO crops,” said Mendocino County Agriculture Commissioner Dave Bengston. In March of 2004, Mendocino County voters approved Measure H, an ordinance banning the growing of GMO crops within the county. Mendocino County is one of only four counties in California to ban GMO crops, the others are Marin, Santa Cruz and Trinity counties. Bengston said even before the ordinance was approved, it is unlikely there were many people growing GMO crops in Mendocino County because the primary GMO crops - corn, alfalfa, rice and canola - cannot be profitably grown in the county. “We probably had some people growing GMO corn before the ordinance,” Bengston said.

There are a number of potential GMO crops in research, including winegrapes, but none of them are on the market yet, Bengston said. Bengston compared the passage of Measure H
to counties that declare themselves “no nuke zones” when there is little chance of a nuclear power plant being located near them. “It’s a political statement,” he said. Despite that, Bengston said agriculture commission inspectors added GMO seeds to the list of things they look for following the passage of Measure H.

Inspectors visit the offices of major shipping companies, including, UPS, FedEx and DHL, every morning to make sure no banned pesticides, quarantined plants, insects or GMO crops are shipped into the county. Bengston said inspectors also check for certain pesticides that are commonly used on GMO crops that have been made resistant to them. Bengston said inspectors spend a very small amount of time actually looking for GMO seeds because of the low likelihood of any coming into the county.

However, just bringing GMO seeds into the county does not constitute a violation of the ordinance. Measure H applies only to land in the county and excludes federal land, tribal land and the county’s four cities. There is nothing in the ordinance to stop the federal government from planting GMO white pine, which is resistant to disease, on federal land, Bengston said. “It’s kind of a patchwork quilt when you look at how much federal land and tribal land and city land we’ve got,” he said.

While GMO seeds coming into the county through the mail or in delivery trucks could be caught by inspectors, Bengston said things would be more complicated if individual farmers went out and bought the seeds in another county, brought them into Mendocino County and planted them. “You wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at them,” Bengston said. “It’s hard for me to imagine someone sneaking around and doing it,” he said. Assuming someone did grow GMO crops in the county, Bengston said prosecution could be difficult because Measure H does not address court hearings or jury trials for violators. “I’d have to be talking with county counsel to work out some kind of due process,” Bengston said.Inspectors would have to determine if the crops were GMO, which would likely require getting an inspection warrant and then submitting the evidence to a laboratory for analysis. “That would be quite expensive,” Bengston said.