For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s All About Organics page, Genetic Engineering page, and our Millions Against Monsanto page.

GELLERMAN: Hay is for horses – but it’s also for cows, especially dairy cows. And soon they could be munching on hay from a different seed: genetically engineered alfalfa. It’s called Roundup Ready alfalfa and its maker, Monsanto, says it’s just like any other hay seed except that it’s resistant to their herbicide, Roundup, which kills weeds in alfalfa fields.

But organic farmers and those who choose organic dairy products fear the new seed could kill the organic dairy industry. And for the past four years, they’ve been waging a legal battle all the way up to the Supreme Court to prevent the seeds from being sown. Living on Earth’s Jessica Ilyse Smith brings us up to date.

SMITH: Last year the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture should decide the fate of Roundup Ready Alfalfa. And this January, the USDA made the unexpected decision to give the go-ahead to Monsanto to sell its seeds, and for farmers to plant them without restrictions.

This blindsided many organic farmers and consumer advocates. Just a month earlier, the agency brought together organic farmers and food distributors, biotech corporations and crop exporters to talk about a coexistence plan – a plan of how Roundup Ready Alfalfa could be grown with everyone’s interests in mind. Mark McCaslin was at this meeting. His company, Forage Genetics, developed the genetically engineered alfalfa with Monsanto.