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Views and goods advertized version
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endorsed by Science in
Society or the Inst. of
Science in Society.
Monsanto versus Farmers
The world’s biggest genetically engineered seed owner destroys
time-honoured traditions of seed saving and drives American Recent
Publications
farmers to destitution and bankruptcy. Sam Burcher
The Rainbow
Odds stacked against farmers and the
Worm, The
Physics of
Feudalism has returned to farming in the US and Canada, Organisms
“Probably the Most
according to the US Center for Food Safety’s report detailing the Important Book for
domination over American staple crops by the corporations and the Coming Scientific
Revolution” Now in
their ruthless prosecution of farmers. its Third Edition
Buy Now|More info
Once the ink is dried on the "technology agreements" signed by
the farmers buying genetically modified (GM) seed, they enter Food Futures
Now:
into contracts that effectively relinquish to Monsanto their right *Organic
to plant, harvest and sell the GM seed. From that moment on, *Sustainable
*Fossil Fuel
they are also vulnerable to harassment such as having their Free How organic
property investigated, litigations and out of court settlements agriculture and
localised food (and
that are part and parcel of licensing a Monsanto patented energy) systems can
product. potentially
compensate for all
greenhouse gas
No grower is safe from this onslaught as third generation emissions due to
Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser discovered when he lost to human activities and
free us from fossil
Monsanto in court for failing to pay royalties on GM canola seed fuels
that had contaminated his non-GM canola crop. "The Buy Now|More info
corporations are becoming the barons and lords, which are what The
my grandparents thought they had escaped." Schmeiser said. only radical
science
magazine on
To-date, Monsanto has filed 90 lawsuits against American earth
Science in
farmers; and 147 farmers and 39 small businesses or farm Society 41 OUT
companies have had to fight for their lives to avoid paying NOW! Order your
copy from our online
additional court costs, attorneys’ fees, and in some cases, costs store.
incurred by Monsanto while investigating them

The Center for Food Safety estimates that Monsanto has been GM Science
awarded over $15 million for judgments granted in their favour. Exposed. A
The largest recorded single payment received from one farmer
was US$3 052 800 (Farmer Anderson, Case no. 4:01: CV-01 comprehensive
749). dossier containing
more than 160 fully
referenced articles
Monsanto controls US staple crops by licence from the Science in
Society archives.
Buy Now|More info
For the first time in history, one company has unprecedented
control of the sale and use of crop seed. They have

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Monsanto versus Farmers http://www.i-sis.org.uk/MonsantovsFarmers.php

accomplished this in three main ways: control of germplasm GMO Free:

Exposing the
through ownership of seed companies; domination of genetic Hazards of
technology and seeds through patent acquisitions; and breaking
age-old farming tradition by forcing farmers to buy new seed Biotechnology to
each year rather than saving and re-planting seed. Ensure the Integrity
of our Food Supply
Buy Now|More info
Buying or merging with most of the major seed companies,
including their recent acquisition of the giant fruit and
vegetable seed company Seminis, has made Monsanto’s the
largest GM seed vendor in the world, providing 90% of the GM Join the I-SIS mailing
list; enter your email
seed sown globally. It has also cornered most of the soybean address
market and 50% of the corn germplasm market in the US. And
if Monsanto doesn’t actually own the seed purchasing
companies, it has been known to impose the condition that a html asci
minimum of 70% (reduced from 90% by government
regulators) of its patented seeds are sold by subsidiary
companies. This ensures that its seeds are the most readily
I-SIS is a
available to farmers. not-for-profit
organisation,
American farmers are hard pushed to find high quality, depending on
donations,
conventional varieties of corn, soy and cottonseed. Anecdotal membership fees,
evidence supports this. Troy Roush, an Indiana soybean farmer subscriptions, and
merchandise sales to
says, "You can’t even purchase them in this market. They are continue its work.
not available." Similar reports come from the corn and cotton Find out more about
membership here
farmers who say, "There are not too many seeds available that
are not genetically altered in some way."

Over the last 10 000 years, diverse genetic pools have been
created and preserved by plant breeders. Monsanto has put
these diverse gene pools at risk by contaminating certified and
traditional seed stocks, and by not permitting farmers to save
seeds. A feudal system of seed ownership destroys perhaps the
key privilege of a farmer as the guardian of societies’ crop
heritage. And it has turned agriculture into an industry where
the corporations consolidate their hold over costly seeds and
chemicals that increase farmers spending on inputs. Meanwhile
monopolies are created in corporate manipulated markets that
include fewer buyers who demand the lowest possible prices for
the outputs produced by farmers, forcing them into a debt
spiral. In 2003 Monsanto made $3.1 billion in pesticide sales
and $1.6 billion in seed sales.

Farmers are under pressure to confirm their identity as modern

agriculturalists, particularly in developing countries. But
replacing the traditional strategy of saving and replanting seeds
from diverse varieties by a patented seed with all its restrictions
threatens food security at household and global levels.

Patents place the burden on farmers

Over the past twenty years, Monsanto has voraciously

accumulated collected patents on engineered plants, seeds and
genetic engineering techniques, perhaps most importantly, the
cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter, the commonest
component in the genetic engineer’s toolbox. Along with
CaMV35S, which other biotech companies pay exorbitant fees to
license, Monsanto owns 647 plant biotech patents and a 29%
share of all biotech research and development.

Patents have changed the face of farming because the farmer

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has lost control of seeds. Once farmers paid royalties on seed to

the US Plant Variety Protection Act or Canada Plant Breeders
Rights Act licensees who allowed seed saving. Since the 1980s,
the US Patent and Trademark Office began issuing patents for
GM organisms and seeds and have granted more than 2 000
since 1985. Professor Lawrence Busch of Michigan State
University estimates the saving of soybean seed dropped from
31% in 1991 to just 10% in 2001 after the introduction of the
GM soybean; this translates into an additional $374 million in
seed industry profits in 2001.

Robert Schubert, the author of Farming’s New Feudalism

believes than an important strategy in saving independent
farmers is to remove agriculture, food and water from the
control of the WTO. His message is no "free" trade where
farming is concerned and no patents.

When Monsanto suspects that saved seed containing a

"Monsanto genetic trait," have been grown, documentation is
requested from the farmers to confirm that the crop was
planted from newly purchased seed. If proof is not forthcoming,
then all of the growers’ fields may be tested and inspected to
determine if saved seed was used. Even after the farmer has
extricated himself from Monsanto technology agreements, if
volunteer plants sprout up in his fields from transgenic seeds
purchased and sown from previous years, he is still vulnerable
to allegations of patent infringement.

Farmers intimidated by Monsanto

Here’s what typically happens to US farmers who fall under

suspicion of planting saved seed. Private investigators from the
Pinkerton agency hired by Monsanto arrive on the farm without
warning, sometimes accompanied by local police. They then
proceed to take samples and photographs over the course of a
few hours to a few weeks, without the farmer being present.

One Mississippi farmer who runs a farm shop from his

farmhouse was subjected to constant surveillance by Monsanto
investigators who watched the family coming and going,
warned off customers, and even rented an empty lot across the
street from where to position their cameras.

Monsanto used entrapment to file a lawsuit against another

farmer, when one of their investigators begged seeds from him
to help solve an erosion problem too late in the season to plant
crops. If personal intimidation fails, Monsanto resorts to another
violation of privacy by sending a registered letter threatening to
"tie the farmer up in court for years" if he refuses to settle out
of court for patent infringement. One farmer who challenged
this intimidation had his name blacklisted on thousands of seed
dealers’ lists. He concedes, "It is easier to give into them than it
is to fight them."

A further example is seed dealers who sell seeds in plain brown

bags so farmers sow them unknowingly. This happened to
Farmer Thomason who was harassed into court by Monsanto
and sued for over a million dollars. He had no choice but to file
for bankruptcy despite never intending to plant Bt cotton.

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In 1999, The Washington Post reported that the number of

farmers under investigation in US and Canada was 525. A later
report confirmed that Monsanto was investigating 500 farmers
in 2004 "as they do every year." Once a farmer agrees to settle
out of court he may be forced to present all documents relating
to farm activity within 24 hours of request, purchase a specific
quantity of company product and disclose the names of other
people that have saved company seed.

Contamination of conventional seed stock

Researchers at the University of Manitoba, Canada tested 33

samples of certified canola (oilseed rape) seed stock and 32
were contaminated with GM. The Union of Concerned Scientists
tested traditional US seed stocks of corn, soy and canola and
found 50% corn, 50% soy and 83% canola contaminated by
GM.

One hundred percent purity is no longer achievable, and even if

non-contaminated seed could be purchased, some
contamination can take place in the field either by transfer of
seed by wind, animals or via farm equipment.

Monsanto dominates the sale of seed stocks yet puts the onus
of finding markets for crops on the farmer. Within their contract
is the "Technology Use Guide" which gives directions on how to
find grain handlers willing to accept crops not approved for use
in the EU. While Monsanto acknowledges that pollen flow and
seed movement are sufficient to contaminate neighbouring
non-GM fields their implicit rule is that "the growers of the
non-GM crops must assume responsibility and receive the
benefit for ensuring that their crops meet specifications for
purity."

Monsanto profits from lawsuits against farmers

Outcomes of lawsuits brought by Monsanto against farmers are

mostly kept under wraps. If farmers are tempted to breach
confidentiality they can face fines greater than the settlements.
But where judgments have been publicly recorded, sizeable
payments benefit not only Monsanto, but also partner
companies.

Combined financial penalties have forced many farmers into

bankruptcy and off their land. Agriculture is suffering losses all
around because of the disappearance of foreign markets. The
US Farm Bureau estimates that farmers lose over $300 million
a year because European markets refuse GM corn. The US State
Department says that as much as $4 billion could be lost in
agricultural exports due to EU labelling and traceability
requirements. Organic and conventional farmers alike have lost
their premium markets through having no choice but to sell
their contaminated crops into GM crop streams.

Monsanto denies making profits from the misery of farmers and

claims that proceeds go to agricultural school programmes,
which some does, but by no means all. An annual budget of $10
million is set aside each year to run a department of 75 staff

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dedicated to prosecuting farmers.

What Monsanto did next

Monsanto has another way of controlling patented genes. So

called "terminator technology" are seeds that become infertile
after one life cycle. The international moratorium on terminator
ended when New Zealand and Australia announced it would
support the technology’s introduction on a case-by-case basis at
a 2005 meeting in Canada. The US Administration in Iraq has
already enforced the non-replanting of seeds by farmers, under
Order 81. Both GURTS (Genetic Use Restriction Technologies)
and "technology agreements," used as weapons against farmers
when they purchase GM seed, have not been legally challenged.
It’s high time that patent laws on living organisms that are
encouraged by legislators, regulators and the courts alike, come
under public scrutiny.

Amending the Patent Act so that sexually reproducing plants

are not patentable and amending the Plant Variety Protection
Act (PVPA) to exclude such plants from protection under the
PVPA are two policy options suggested by the Center for Food
Safety to defend farmers from Monsanto. This would minimise
the damage done to farmers and agriculture in the long term.
Drastic policy changes are needed at state and federal levels to
address the hounding of farmers, their families and small
agricultural companies by the aggressive tactics of a big
corporation determined to destroy traditional farming practices
and rights that go back thousands of years.

Farmers facing lawsuits or threats from Monsanto can call this

toll-free hotline for guidance and referrals: 1-888-FARMHLP

Sources

Monsanto vs. U.S. Farmers, 2005. A report by the Center for

Food Safety © 2004, Center for Food Safety
www.centerforfoodsafety.org.

Robert Schubert. Farming’s New Feudalism, World Watch 2005.

© Worldwatch Institute.

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