The prohibition against genetically engineered crops in Jackson County, Ore., will be allowed to stand if a proposed settlement is finalized, barring a new legal challenge to the ordinance.
Voters in the county approved the ban last year, which prompted alfalfa growers Schulz Family Farms and James and Marilyn Frink to file a lawsuit claiming the ordinance violated Oregon’s “right to farm” law.
In May, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke rejected their argument, finding that the “right to farm” statute is intended to protect growers from lawsuits and ordinances against common farming practices, but it exempts farmers who want to avoid damage to their crops.
“While farming practices may not be limited by a suburbanite’s sensitivities, they may be limited if they cause damage to another farm’s crops,” Clarke said in the ruling.
While the plaintiffs lost this argument, they still sought more than $4 million for the lost value of the biotech alfalfa crops they’d have to destroy when the ordinance went into effect.
Also, the growers would eventually be able to challenge Clarke’s “right to farm” ruling before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals once the original lawsuit was closed.
They’ve now agreed to give up that right and drop their other claims against Jackson County under a proposed settlement that would in turn allow their alfalfa to stay in the ground, but for no longer than eight years.
While other farmers are not bound by the agreement, which must still be approved by the judge, any future lawsuits would have to “grapple” with the finding that the ordinance complies with Oregon’s “right to farm” law, said George Kimbrell, senior attorney with the Center for Food Safety, which was involved in the litigation.
“This settlement preserves their victory,” he said.
It’s unclear whether the biotech industry would want to pursue a new challenge against the ordinance, Kimbrell said.
Shannon Armstrong, attorney for the plaintiffs, said they decided to agree to the proposed settlement because it would safeguard their investment in biotech alfalfa.
Altogether, the two farms planted more than 300 acres of alfalfa that’s resistant to glyphosate herbicides, which makes weed control easier.
“For us, it lifts a cloud of uncertainty,” said Armstrong.
Most local governments in Oregon are pre-empted from regulating biotech crops under a law passed in 2013 that exempted Jackson County because its proposed ban had already been approved for the ballot.
However, litigation is also pending over a similar prohibition passed in neighboring Josephine County in 2014.
Proponents of that ordinance plan to argue that Oregon’s biotech pre-emption statute is unconstitutional, according to court documents.
Source: www.capitalpress.com