No Clearfield 131 rice in Arkansas in 2007

By David Bennett
Farm Press Editorial Staff
March 5, 2007
© Penton Media

[excerpt:]
In a continuing effort to purge GM traits from the rice industry, the Arkansas State Plant Board has banned the rice variety Clearfield 131. The measure passed on a 6-5 vote at a March 2 emergency meeting and came after lengthy board deliberation and often emotional testimony from farmers, seedsmen and millers...

The Arkansas Plant Board's latest action stems from the furor that began last August when the USDA announced a GM trait, Bayer's LibertyLink (LL) 601, had been discovered in the U.S. rice supply. The trait - at levels around six grains per 10,000 - was later linked to the very popular Cheniere variety.

Despite U.S. government insistence that the LL traits are safe, some foreign markets, most notably the European Union, balked at taking U.S. rice. The U.S. rice industry has since worked to assure trading partners and to clean up the seed supply...

The full article is available on the Delta Farm Press website.