PORTLAND – Monsanto of St. Louis and Oakhurst Dairy of Portland on Wednesday signed an agreement that will change the way the Maine dairy labels its milk products. It also could set a precedent that could change the way dairies across the country label their milk.

Monsanto filed a lawsuit in July over Oakhurst’s labeling and marketing of its milk. Monsanto’s lawsuit said Oakhurst’s claim that its farmers don’t use artificial growth hormones in their milk production is misleading and implies that something is wrong with growth hormones. Monsanto is the sole manufacturer of those hormones.

The dispute between the multinational chemical giant and the small Portland dairy has drawn national attention to the issue of growth hormones and dairy product labeling. The suit had been scheduled to go to trial Jan. 5 in federal court.

After Monsanto filed the lawsuit, Oakhurst Dairy President Stanley Bennett vowed to not give in to Monsanto’s demands.

At the time, he said he was in the business of selling milk, “not marketing Monsanto’s drugs.”

Oakhurst milk jugs on store shelves today state: “Our Farmers’ Pledge: No Artificial Growth Hormones.” The word “used” will be added to the pledge as per the agreement.

Also to be added to the label in small lettering at the bottom will be the words: “FDA states: No significant difference in milk from cows treated with artificial growth hormones.”

The Food and Drug Administration recommends the additional wording but does not require it.

Official statements from both companies said the agreement was reached to “give consumers information they want and need” regarding the controversy surrounding the use of synthetic, genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone, or rBGH, which Monsanto markets as Prosilac.

But opponents of rBGH were critical of the settlement and said it has greater consequences for consumers and producers.

Leslie Cummins of Co-op Voices Unite, based in Blue Hill, said Wednesday, “This settlement will kill labeling. It is so unbelievably undemocratic.”

Cummins said because the two companies were forced to conduct their talks in a confidential manner, “There was never really a good dialogue with the public. There are other scientific views [on rBGH] besides the USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture] point of view. The public wanted to know and was denied.”

Former state legislator John Nutting, also a dairy farmer from Leeds, said the implications of the settlement may be far-reaching. “Who’s next?” he asked. “Will organic farmers have to put a disclaimer on their carrots? Or will free-range chicken have a disclaimer? This could spread to many other foodstuffs.”

Nutting said that many food groups have been closely watching the Oakhurst-Monsanto issue since Monsanto claimed the label was misleading and damaging to their company.

The dispute centered on consumers’ perception of rBGH, which is injected into cows every two weeks to increase their milk production. About one-third of the United States’ 9 million dairy cows are given the hormone.

The FDA says milk produced by rBGH-injected cows is indistinguishable from milk from cows that are not treated and poses no health risks to humans or cows.

Opponents of rBGH say there is no consensus in the international scientific community over its safety and point out that it is banned in Canada and Europe. They also say it is harmful to cows, and that the use of rBGH poses a threat to family farms.

Last Friday, Monsanto announced it only would be supplying farmers with 85 percent of their normal supply of Prosilac, citing its inability to meet an increased demand for the hormone. It is expected that this decrease in rBGH will dramatically affect the oversupply of milk in this country and may advantageously affect milk prices, which dropped this month.

Farmers in Maine and across the country have been getting below-production prices for their milk for two years, causing a crisis within the industry.

Settlement talks had been under way for two weeks after Monsanto requested the trial set for January in federal court in Boston be held off to allow talks to proceed.

The joint statement released Wednesday further stated: “The agreement addresses Oakhurst’s goal to inform consumers that its farmers pledge not to give artificial growth hormone to their cows. The agreement also addresses Monsanto’s goal that additional information be presented to consumers so that they understand that the FDA states there is no significant difference in milk from cows treated with artificial growth hormone.”

Cummins said, “A lot of dairies across the country refuse to use [milk from cows treated with rBGH]. I think they’ll be afraid to advertise that fact now. Monsanto will be able to go after these dairies one by one.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story. For more information, check the Internet at Oakhurst Dairy: www.oakhurstdairy.com and Monsanto Co.: www.monsanto.com