USDA deregulates herbicide resistant energy beet, sugar beet

Ethanol Producer Magazine
By Holly Jessen
July 31, 2012

A recent decision by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service means Roundup Ready sugar beets and energy beets can now be sold commercially—and that’s exciting news for potential biofuels producers. “We’re very delighted that we have this Roundup Ready beet,” said Roger Ford, CEO of Patriot Bioenergy Corp., a company working to build three energy beet-to-ethanol production plants in Kentucky. “The weed control is a big issue so that’s going to help us quite a bit on getting that solved.”

In response to a petition from Monsanto Co. and German company KWS, on July 19 APHIS announced a determination of nonregulated status and the availability of a record of decision. The sugar beets and energy beets are genetically engineered with resistance to the herbicide glyphosate, which is known commercially as Roundup, and are commonly referred to as event H7-1 or Roundup Ready beets.

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