Posted: August 26th, 2009 - 9:45pm
Source: Longmont Times-Call

BOULDER -- Six local farmers might have to wait another year to learn whether Boulder County will let them plant genetically engineered sugar beets on county open-space properties.
County commissioners decided late Tuesday night to delay acting on the farmers’ eight-month-old sugar-beets application, a postponement the farmers requested in light of the controversy that’s erupted over their original proposal.
Commissioners Ben Pearlman, Cindy Domenico and Will Toor said Boulder County should first complete a comprehensive study to guide the future management of the thousands of acres of agricultural land the county leases to farmers.
That management plan is expected to recommend what Toor called “a broader GMO policy” that Boulder County officials can consult when considering farmers’ requests to plant genetically modified organisms on county-owned land.
Toor said he wants to avoid engaging in “hand-to-hand combat” over each new variety of genetically engineered plant seed.