The U.S. Supreme Court heard the first case involving genetically engineered crops Tuesday. The case involved a three-year-old ban on Monsanto's genetically modified alfalfa. Sale of the Roundup Ready alfalfa was blocked by a court order in California after opponents claimed that Monsanto's seed contaminated their crops and cripple export sales to countries that ban GMO products. The judge ordered an environmental impact study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Earlier, the USDA had okayed the Monsanto product; the USDA is expected to complete the environmental study of the alfalfa next year.

The justices spent little time dwelling on the debate about the safety or environmental effects of biotech crops," wrote the Des Moines Register's Philip Brasher. "But Justice Antonin Scalia suggested that the threat to conventional or organic growers was minor and manageable. 'It makes it more difficult for them to have a field of 100 percent non-genetically engineered (alfalfa),  but that’s not the end of the world,' Scalia said."

The Supreme Court's decision is due in June. Opponents say they may take the case back to court. Brasher interviewed one alfalfa producer who said that if the Court ends the band, the threat of cross-polination from GMS crops will push the production of non-biotech alfalfa to Canada. 

The Department of Justice has continued the public side of its investigation into possible antitrust violations in the agriculture business. In early March, the DOJ went to Iowa, where the agency's lawyers heard about seed monopolies and contract hog raising. This week, Christine A. Varney, the Assistant U.S. Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division (above) listened to dairy farmers in New York State as they described the lack of competition in milk markets, according to a story in the Buffalo News written by Phil Fairbanks. 

"We want and need to be able to control our family farm's destiny," Jeremy Verratti, a dairy farmer in Gasport, said during a meeting at Genesee Community College. "We want to stay dairy farmers and we want to stay in Gasport." New York Sen. Charles Schumer noted that farmers "are getting paid less and consumers are paying more...Someone is walking away with all the money."

Varney and DOJ attorneys plan to visit other milk producing states, such as Vermont and Wisconsin. They will hear other farmers who contend that a lack of competition for milk is driving prices down. At one point, Varney acknowledged the crisis in dairy country, according to Fairbanks. "We will not let you down," she said. "We know the problem you're facing."

We just liked Jim Etter's story about Ruben Hopper today.  Hopper is 106 years old and he still gardens in Pawnee County, with the help of his 79-year-old son Bob. His motto: "Always work hard, and raise plenty of vegetables to eat."

Well, there's more to it than that. First, there's poker. Ruben plays -- small stakes only and none of that casino gambling. And, "I never did smoke,” he said, "but I did drink a lot of that moonshine.” He didn't visit a doctor until he was 94. Now he takes "two dizzy pills and two aspirins a day." And eats lots of vegetable -- potatoes, squash, okra, melons.

And no cholesterol, either.

Under pressure from the U.S., the Canadian government has agreed to increase the frequency of inspections at meat processing plants. The union representing food inspectors in Canada said their members were inspecting plants every 16 hours of operation. U.S. safety standards call for 12-hour intervals. Canada has been paying overtime since November to comply with the U.S. standard.

There have been several problems with tainted meat recently coming from Canadian plants. (U.S. facilities have had their problems, too.) The new inspection plan will comply with U.S. regulations. The additional inspections “will allow us to better meet the USDA’s technical requirements for products exported to the U.S.,” according to a Canadian official.