Consumer pressure for non-genetically modified food products is placing a strain on Idaho sugar beet farmers.

Idaho sugar beet farmers have grown increasingly dependent on genetically modified seeds for cost savings and greater yields over the last decade. But large companies like Hershey are switching from genetically modified beets to traditional beets or cane sugar to fill their needs.

Idaho farmers are now asking if it’s worth growing sugar beets at all, said Garth Taylor, extension specialist at the University of Idaho Department of Agricultural Economics.

“Farmers are saying they won’t go back to hoeing sugar beets,” Taylor said. “They say they would rather farm potatoes or another crop then go back to conventional seeds.”

The pressure to go non-GMO has affected business at Amalgamated Sugar, the Idaho cooperative that is the country’s second biggest producer of sugar made from sugar beets.

“Hershey, Danone and Del Monte – I could show you a list,” said John McCreedy, president of Amalgamated Sugar, which is owned by farmers. “We have lost 15 percent of our customers who used to buy beet sugar and cane sugar interchangeably based on price, quality and delivery service. They will now not buy beet sugar regardless of the price because they want to be able to label their food products non-GMO.”

Many Idaho farmers use a genetically modified seed that is resistant to certain herbicides, engineered by companies like Monsanto. Since 2008, most sugar beet farmers have switched to using genetically modified seeds because it saves them money and produces a higher yield, according to Amalgamated Sugar. McCreedy said the sugar is genetically identical to conventional sugar  because the modified part of the beet, proteins and DNA, is removed when the beet is turned into sugar.