Laura Rutherford
Ninth Generation Farmer
Expert Bio
My name is Laura Rutherford. I am a mother, a runner, and farmer. I am passionate about food quality, safety, and nutrition that my family eats and what we produce for others to eat. I grew up on a farm/ranch operation in South Dakota and have been engaged in farming and production most of my life. My husband and I farm near Grafton in North Dakota's Red River Valley region, where we grow sugar beets, dry beans, soybeans, and wheat. I am a shareholder in the American Crystal Sugar Company and a member of the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association (RRVSGA), the World Association of Beet and Cane Growers (WABCG) and the American Society of Sugarbeet Technologists. I am on the Board of Directors of the Sugar Industry Biotechnology Council and I have published articles for the WABCG, the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association newsletter and the British Sugarbeet Review magazine in Cambs, United Kingdom. I graduated from the University of North Dakota in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.
Studies, Articles and Answers
Showing 4 out of 4 results
Question
Q: Why can’t farmers harvest seeds from GM plants and reuse them? That is not fair.
A: My husband and I grow sugarbeets in the Red River Valley region of North Dakota and I am happy to address your question. First, there is no seed to save on a commercial sugarbeet farm. The reason is because sugarbeet plants do not produce seed in their first year of production. We harvest the root the first year to make sugar. If the beet could survive through the winter it would send up a seed stalk the following year. However, except for California, sugarbeet growing areas have freezing temperatures that kill the beets we do not harvest. Sugarbeet seed can only be grown in cl [...]
Business Practices GMOs & FarmersQuestion
Q: Are sugar in the USA stores from GMO sugar beets?
A: Thank you for this question! About half of all sugar sold in the United States comes from sugar beets. American grocery stores purchase sugar from a variety of sources and sell it under their own brand names or under a private brand name. Sugar from all sources has been tested at the molecular level, and scientific evidence has proven that there is no DNA or protein present in refined sugar. Therefore, sugar, whether from sugar beets and sugarcane or from sugar crops grown using conventional, biotech or organic methods, is identical. There is also no difference between domestically and interna [...]
A: Thank you for this question! About half of all sugar sold in the United States comes from sugar beets. American grocery stores purchase sugar from a variety of sources and sell it under their own brand names or under a private brand name. Sugar from all sources has been tested at the molecular level, and scientific evidence has proven that there is no DNA or protein present in refined sugar. Therefore, sugar, whether from sugar beets and sugarcane or from sugar crops grown using conventional, biotech or organic methods, is identical. There is also no difference between domestically and interna [...]
GMO Basics Health & SafetyQuestion
Q: Are sugar in the USA stores from GMO sugar beets?
A: Thank you for this question! About half of all sugar sold in the United States comes from sugar beets. American grocery stores purchase sugar from a variety of sources and sell it under their own brand names or under a private brand name. Sugar from all sources has been tested at the molecular level, and scientific evidence has proven that there is no DNA or protein present in refined sugar. Therefore, sugar, whether from sugar beets and sugarcane or from sugar crops grown using conventional, biotech or organic methods, is identical. There is also no difference between domestically and interna [...]
A: Thank you for this question! About half of all sugar sold in the United States comes from sugar beets. American grocery stores purchase sugar from a variety of sources and sell it under their own brand names or under a private brand name. Sugar from all sources has been tested at the molecular level, and scientific evidence has proven that there is no DNA or protein present in refined sugar. Therefore, sugar, whether from sugar beets and sugarcane or from sugar crops grown using conventional, biotech or organic methods, is identical. There is also no difference between domestically and interna [...]
GMO Basics Health & SafetyQuestion
A: Sugarbeets have been grown here in the Red River Valley region of North Dakota since the 1920s. Prior to 2007, glyphosate was not used to spray on top of sugarbeets. Our growers had to use a combination of 3-4 herbicides that required four to five applications per growing season. We started planting Roundup Ready sugarbeets and using glyphosate in 2008. This has enabled us to make only two to three applications of glyphosate per growing season and we are now able to effectively control both weeds and grasses. We have identified at least 25 environmental benefits by switching to [...]