For two years running, it has been genetically modified crops -- the hot agriculture technology -- that has been responsible for roiling the grain markets. For Bill Christison, a Missouri farmer who is president of the National Family Farm Coalition, it's a technology that hasn't lived up to its billing.

Genetic engineering was supposed to benefit the farmer and the consumer, Christison points out. Instead, "it's dramatically changing trade aspects that the U.S. has enjoyed for a long time," he says. "We're plowing new ground. We are losing export opportunities because of some technology we don't need."

Indeed, corn exports to the European Union have all but stopped, one reason behind that is the genetically engineered corn seed by U.S. farmers. USDA also says the debate over genetic engineering has affected corn exports to Japan, the number one destination for U.S. corn exports.

The Family Farm Coalition, an umbrella group for nearly three dozen groups, itself is part of a group, the Farmer-to-Farmer Campaign on Genetic Engineering, that, this week, called on state attorneys general to become more active on the genetic-engineering front.

"While USDA has aggressively promoted biotechnology in agriculture, they have done virtually nothing to address farmer liability issues or to ensure that farmers are adequately protected under current industry contracts," Christison says.

Speaking for the Farmer to Farmer Campaign, Christison said attorneys general need to move beyond responding to crises such as the StarLink controversy and initiate long-term actions that protect farmers from liability.

Christison says there are questions to be answered. Among them: Are genetically engineered crops safe? Who assumes the risks of planting these crops? How do neighbors sort out questions of cross pollination? Who benefits from genetic engineering, farmers and consumers, or the life-science companies producing the technology?

Specifically, the Farmer to Farmer Campaign is asking state attorneys general to:

• Issue opinions on the extent to which farmers and/or seed companies are liable for damages caused by GMO contamination of non-GMO crops; failure to segregate GMO crops; GMO contract violations; and patent, licensing, and registration infringements.
• Support legislation that places liability on companies who develop and manufacture GMO seeds for economic and environmental damages.
• Investigate GMO marketing practices to determine if farmers are properly advised of the liability risks and their responsibilities associated with growing GMO crops.
• Hold meetings with farmers to inform them of the legal issues they may face.
• To investigate whether companies developing, manufacturing, and marketing GMOs are violating antitrust laws.