“Legal experts do not expect a blockbuster decision on the merits of regulating modified plants such as Monsanto Co.’s Roundup Ready alfalfa, but the case, Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, has drawn widespread interest because the justices could issue a ruling that would raise or lower the threshold for challenges under the National Environmental Policy Act.

“Environmental groups, which frequently use the statute to bring lawsuits against government agencies and industry groups, ‘don’t expect anything good’ to come from the Supreme Court’s eventual decision, said David Bookbinder, chief climate counsel at the Sierra Club. It seems that some of the justices are ‘on a kick to gut NEPA remedies,’ he said earlier this year during a panel discussion on environmental law at Georgetown University.”

The article added that, “Michael Senatore, vice president of conservation law at Defenders of Wildlife, said his organization has not been involved in the issue of modified crops but wanted to weigh in because of the case’s potential impact on environmental litigation.

“‘It is a NEPA case, and NEPA has fared exceedingly poorly in the Supreme Court — I think it’s 0-for-13,’ Senatore said. If the organic farmers lose, he added, ‘we could get another adverse NEPA ruling that could have implications for the work that we do.’

“Industry groups have described the alfalfa lawsuit as a typical abuse of NEPA by advocacy groups, saying the litigation is intended to obstruct and delay action even though there is little or no risk of harm to plaintiffs.”

Bloomberg writers Jack Kaskey and Antonio Ligi reported earlier this week that, “Lance Russell’s neighbors aren’t used to seeing corn growing in the fields around Hays, Kansas, where the plants tend to wither and keel over in the dry heat. They may be in for a surprise this summer.

“Russell is planting DuPont Co.’s drought-tolerant corn, one of the seeds heading to market next year that’s designed to thrive where water is scarce. An experimental plot in 2009 improved on the economics of the sorghum crop ‘by a landslide,’ Russell said.

“Monsanto Co., DuPont and Syngenta AG are vying for a similar windfall. After battling for a decade to corner the $11 billion market for insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant technologies, the world’s biggest seed companies are vying to develop crops that can survive drought. At stake is a new global market that may top $2.7 billion for the corn version alone.”

Source: AgricultureLaw.com