Boulder County authorities have decided to stop allowing genetically engineered crops to be grown on county-owned farmland.
The Longmont Daily Times-Call reports that county commissioners on Thursday directed staff to draft a plan for phasing out GMO crops. The decision ends years of debate between opponents of GMOs and the tenant farmers that grow them.
Since December 2011, tenant farmers have been allowed to grow certain varieties of genetically modified corn and sugar beets on land leased from Boulder County. That policy will remain in effect at least through the end of this year as county officials work out how to implement the change.
The Board of County Commissioners didn't take a formal vote on Thursday, but their conversation indicated an eventual plan to transition away from GMO crops.
