Gov. John Kitzhaber has begun making good on a promise made before the Legislature’s special session to come up with statewide rules governing the growth of genetically engineered crops.

Already he’s asked the state Department of Agriculture to create maps showing where genetically engineered and traditional crops are grown. He also wants the ag department to come up with a plan showing what regulations can be put in place without changes to existing law. Finally, he will create a task force to examine the issues, including those of cross-contamination and food labeling.

When all that is complete, he plans to go to the 2015 Legislature with proposed changes to the law.

It’s a big task, and no matter your views about genetic engineering of crops, an important one. While most of us outside agriculture tend to think of genetic engineering in terms of organic vs. nonorganic foods, there’s much more at stake.

Seed farmers are stakeholders, as are dairymen, cattlemen and growers of row crops. In some cases, farmers grow genetically engineered seed because it allows them to attain the unadulterated crop they need to demand top dollar for what they produce.

For others, the opposite is true: An organic dairy farmer must feed organic hay, and a wheat farmer hoping to sell on the Asian market must have a crop free of genetically engineered wheat.

There are other concerns as well. Farmers worry that Roundup-ready plants will escape, as they did in Jefferson County in 2006, and, because of their modification, be difficult to kill.

Nor does the issue center, as some would have you believe, on the “safety” of genetically engineered foods. Until someone demonstrates otherwise, we’ll buy the argument that the government is right in assuring us those foods are safe.

At the same time, however, Oregonians should be able to choose organic and locally grown if they prefer. About 4 percent of Oregon agriculture is organic these days, a number that’s up and growing.

All segments of agriculture have an interest in resolving the issue as peaceably as possible, and Kitzhaber has taken the first step toward doing that.