In a landmark case on genetically modified (GM) crops, The US Supreme Court ruled  7-1 on Monday in favor of agribusiness giant Monsanto and overturned a lower court’s decision to ban the company’s GM alfalfa until the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) fully analyzed the crop’s potential dangers.

Monsanto applauded the decision and assured farmers that the alfalfa seeds, which are engineered to be resistant to Monsanto’s glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide, could be available for planting as early as this fall. Monsanto’s opponents, however, claim they won the day because, under the high court’s ruling, the GM alfalfa remains illegal until the USDA officially deregulates the crop, a decision that can be challenged by the public.

A coalition of organic farmers and environmentalists sued the USDA in 2006 over its approval of the Monsanto’s GM alfalfa. The groups cited concerns that the alfalfa could cross-pollinate and infect organic alfalfa farms, and the overuse of Roundup herbicide could contaminate soil and groundwater while promoting the growth of Roundup-resistant “super weeds.”

Monsanto and its biotech allies jumped in to support the USDA, but, in 2007, a US District Court in San Francisco ruled the USDA failed to address these concerns and placed a nationwide ban on the alfalfa seeds until the department completed a full environmental impact analysis.

Justice Clarence Thomas was an attorney for Monsanto from 1976 to 1979, but he did not recuse himself from the case. Monsanto claims the company was not involved in biotechnology or the “seed business” at the time, according to a release in response to the movie “Food, Inc.”