{"id":184663,"date":"2025-04-14T18:18:51","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T18:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/agriculture\/fugitives-break-free-creeping-bentgrass-escapes-into-wild\/"},"modified":"2025-04-14T18:18:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T18:18:51","slug":"fugitives-break-free-creeping-bentgrass-escapes-into-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=184663","title":{"rendered":"Fugitives Break Free – Creeping Bentgrass Escapes into Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"Fugitives\"Fugitives
Alcatraz Prison, San Francisco. Image courtesy of Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

January 12, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

Genetically engineered creeping bentgrass<\/em> escapes into wild<\/h2>\n

It wasn\u2019t like a daring prison break from Alcatraz that everyone said was impossible.<\/p>\n

No watch tower lights went blaring. No barking guard dogs and armed patrols sent scrambling into the brush to forcefully recover the recalcitrant escapees.<\/p>\n

No, this was an entirely different kind of escape \u2014one though, that many said could actually happen.<\/p>\n

The basic outline of the story:<\/h2>\n

The giant grass seed manufacturer, Scotts Miracle-Gro<\/a> began developing (with Monsanto) a genetically modified grass seed that would be impervious to exposure from RoundUp, a powerful herbicide used to control weeds.<\/p>\n

The modified grass was called Creeping Bentgrass<\/em>, ideally suited for golf course greens, smooth, tough and easily cut to a short surface.<\/p>\n

Tests began in the early 2000\u2019s throughout the country on small test plots under USDA federal regulation meaning that it was not to be commercially grown and (supposedly) isolated so as not to spread to other areas.<\/p>\n

Test sites for this altered grass were introduced in 2 Oregon counties, Jefferson, and Malheur near the border with Idaho. According to the Oregonian, \u201cOn two occasions in August 2003, hot afternoon winds whipped through the fields north of Madras, scattering the modified seed seed for miles, including into the Crooked River National Grasslands. Signs of the altered grass were found 13 miles away from the test fields, according to federal documents.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2010, significant patches of altered grass were found along irrigation canals in Malheur County.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

And, as the Creeping Bentgrass<\/em> was found in more areas, Scotts, USDA, and state agencies in Idaho and Oregon have all been unable to contain the problem. Even more worrisome, Oregon State University (OSU) and EPA scientists discovered evidence that the modified grass was able to exchange their roundup resistant genes with surrounding feral grass so the problem was literally spreading. And, because these are perennial grass seeds, they keep coming back each year.<\/p>\n

The big fear is multi-fold as the problem festers and grows for going on 14 years.<\/p>\n

Economic concerns:<\/h2>\n