Oregon Appeals Court halts canola rules after farm groups say they would cause 'irreparable harm'
Responding to opponents' worry that growing canola in the Willamette Valley would cause "irreparable harm" to valuable specialty seed crops, the Oregon Court of Appeals has ordered a temporary halt to state rules that would have allowed canola planting this fall.
From Oregon Live:
Update: The Oregon Court of Appeals has granted a stay on ODA's temporary rule, effectively keeping seed out of the ground this year. Read the court order (pdf)
Responding to opponents' worry that growing canola
in the Willamette Valley would cause "irreparable harm" to valuable
specialty seed crops, the Oregon Court of Appeals has ordered a
temporary halt to state rules that would have allowed canola planting
this fall.
The court issued a temporary stay to an Oregon
Department of Agriculture decision that would have opened perhaps
480,000 acres to growing canola. The decision puts a hold on planting
until the court rules on objections raised by a coalition of vegetable
seed farmers and food safety activists. The court may rule on the case
by the end of August, according to the Associated Press.
Some farmers want to plant canola
for processing into cooking oil or biodiesel fuel. They see canola as a
valuable crop that can be safely grown in rotation with grass seed or
grains. The state previously banned canola from a 3.7 million acre
protected zone in the valley, but Aug. 3 revised that to allow canola plantings at the edges of the zone.
