The U.S. Department of Agriculture announces deregulation of Roundup- Ready alfalfa.

"We promised that we would make a decision to enable folks to plant this spring and we have done that."

Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, says they called for no conditions and no restrictions, but Vilsack also announced other actions the USDA will take to reassure growers who want non genetically engineered alfalfa, that they will have it, and that their crops will have more protection from any possible gene jumping from a GE crop.

"Not only are we going to try to do additional science and research to figure out if there are ways in which we can prevent pollination from occurring. Not only are we going to make sure that we improve our research in terms of detection of trans genes in alfalfa seeds, but we're also going to take a look at whether or not the modeling that would be used to determine the extent of any pollination is accurate."

Vilsack says opening up more dialog about bio-tech issues and creating more choices to deal with them might give judges more options than just issuing bans and injunctions in bio-tech cases. He also points out that genetically engineered alfalfa is just one part of a larger conversation about the legalities and safety of genetically modified crops.

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