Agriculture and Ecology

Genetically Modified Grass Has Escaped an Oregon Test Field

By Dan Richardson, 8-18-06

Frankenstein’s monster appalls us at first glance for the way his head was sewn onto a mismatched torso, an arm here, a leg there, bolts sticking out of his neck. The hideous appearance was not a reflection of the monster, though, but of the man who created it: A scientist who flouted moral law by playing God, then failed in an utterly pragmatic way by letting the monster escape to play havoc in the world.

It makes for great fiction — but terrible reality.

Unfortunately, the Frankenstein tale threatens to retell itself in Oregon, with news this week that a genetically modified strain of bent grass is on the loose. The grass is an abomination - a genetically modified (GM) strain produced by Monsanto and the Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. to resist the herbicide Roundup, which is also made by Monsanto. The idea was to grow anherbicide-resistant turf for golf courses and similar lawn operations; the courses could plant the GM bent grass, then soak the area in Roundup, killing weeds without having to get their hands dirty or harming the (now-resistant) grass.

So Monsanto and Scotts planted a test crop of the bent grass near Madras, Ore., harvested it and then killed it off — with non-Roundup herbicide. But, like Frankenstein’s monster, the grass refused to die so easily, and escaped. The grass sent pollen more than a dozen miles, which is three miles outside a buffer zone. Two of the handful of escaped grass plants were growing in the Crooked River National Grassland, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, as reported in the Oregonian.

The scientists' due out in the October issue of Molecular Ecology.

Another scientist noted that the GM grass could potentially affect other plant species, which could acquire Roundup resistance — leaving landowners, gardeners, golf course managers and the like to use even more potent herbicides.

Another potential fallout from escaped grass is the unknown interaction it could have with Oregon’s grass seed industry. Oregon farmers grow 70 percent of the seed for American gardeners and groundskeepers, and brings something in excess of $370 million to Oregon each year.

The industry is ensconced in the Willamette Valley, on the far side of the Cascade Mountains from the bent grass test plot. But, then, the bent grass survived its supposed eradication and also drifted or was carried beyond the buffer zone. No one knows what will happen if the GM bent grass infests the grass seed farms, but obviously the fear is that Monsanto’s Frankenstein grass will throw some nasty, unexpected twist at the ecology — and, really, just to make it easier for golf courses to maintain their green-carpeted look. So (not to put too fine an eco-horror point on the thing) an entire state industry is threatened, not to mention native ecosystems, for the sake of a mega-corporation to rake in more money by serving America’s cart-driving elites.

The cherry on top of this cake is that some folks — in Oregon’s grass seed industry — predicted this very sort of event. Four years ago.

Doug Tankersley wrote target="blank" href="http://oregonmag.com/GMGrass.htm" rel="nofollow">a 2002 article for Oregon Magazine that covered the testing of this bent grass testing in Oregon, and the possibility of it going renegade:

“Bill Rose, owner of a major Willamette Valley bent grass seed producer, doubts that test controls are adequate. His company, Turf Seed Inc., has conducted studies showing pollen flows easily over a distance and he is concerned that the new GM grass will cross with his varieties, affecting sales to the European market, where many countries have banned the use or sale of any GM seed.”

Who knows if Monsanto’s GM grass will die out or remain more-or-less around Central Oregon? Or, perhaps, find its way west of the mountains into the grass seed farms of the Willamette Valley? Thing is, those farms are only about 60 miles away, and grass seeds are small enough that they can stick to cars or be blow aloft by wind, traveling a long ways before falling and implanting, unnoticed. And because grasses are perennial, surviving year after year, it may be a long, long time before anyone knows the answer to those questions.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.

Next entry: Genetically Modified Grass Has Escaped an Oregon Test Field

Tags for this article

columbia gorge (531), habitat (249),

Tag cloud for all articles

missoula, politics, environment, idaho, colorado, business and the new economy, new west network topics, montana, development, bozeman, salt lake city, travel & outdoors, rockies, utah, western montana, boise, new west living, land use & development, new mexico, outdoor recreation, northern idaho, idaho northern/panhandle, bend, boulder, columbia gorge, flathead valley, wyoming, idaho politics, montana politics, real estate, snow blog, community blogs, wildlife, music, land & water, parks & national forests, jackson hole, wildland fire, colorado politics, technology, habitat, arts, film & events, oregon, featured photo, getaways, utah politics, news & author interviews, abq / santa fe, wild bill, tourism, washington, bob wire blog, outdoors (c426), climate change, transportation, demographics, reviews & essays, diary of a mad voter, front range, new mexico politics,

By Dan Richardson, 8-18-06 | add comment | email story | print story