1.Monsanto making millions off farmers' backs
2.Syngenta and Monsanto end legal dispute over crop technologies
3.Bayer Rice Contamination Suits Should Be Combined, Lawyers Say
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1.Monsanto making millions off farmers' backs
Organisation for Competitive Markets, 21 May 2008
http://www.competitivemarkets.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=136& Itemid=20
Hugh Grant, Monsanto Chairman, CEO, and President probably won’t notice the increased price of a loaf of bread. And if he does it will be with a smile. Grant is $13,000,000 and some change wealthier today than he was on Monday, as he chose to exercise stock options - 116,000 shares worth that netted him a profit of over $114 PER SHARE.
Like many of us, I wouldn’t mind paying the extra dollar per loaf of bread if I knew the majority of that dollar was going back into the hands of farmers. Instead, the higher prices at the checkout line are funneled to the agri-giants like Monsanto and Cargill, companies making record profits. Remind you of gas prices and oil companies? Reminds me that these agri-giants spent $100 million on getting their way in the Farm Bill, an investment with huge dividends for Monsanto's Hugh Grant anyway.
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2.Syngenta and Monsanto end legal dispute over crop technologies
The Associated Press, May 23 2008
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/23/business/EU-FIN-COM-Switzerland-Syngen ta-Monsanto.php
BASEL, Switzerland: Swiss agrochemicals company Syngenta said Friday it has resolved a legal dispute with U.S.-rival Monsanto over their respective corn and soybean businesses.
Syngenta said it will withdraw antitrust and infringement cases related to Monsanto's use of herbicide-tolerant and insect-protected corn technologies, and herbicide-tolerant soybean technology.
In return, Monsanto will license Syngenta's technology for making crops resistant to the herbicide Dicamba.
Syngenta will also license one of Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" technologies for increasing soybean yield.
The two companies agreed to cooperate in developing new herbicide-tolerant and insect-protection products for the cultivation of corn, cotton and soybeans.
Syngenta shares rose 1.5 percent to 324.75 Swiss francs (US$315.80; €200.44) on the Zurich exchange.
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3.Bayer Rice Contamination Suits Should Be Combined, Lawyers Say
By Margaret Cronin Fisk and Joe Whittington
Bloomberg, May 22 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=au7CXdzWKZ4c&refer=germany
Bayer AG's agricultural units contaminated U.S. crops with genetically modified rice and farmers in five states should be allowed to pursue negligence claims against the company as group actions, their lawyer said.
The farmers sued after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in August 2006 that trace amounts of a Bayer-created, genetically modified rice had been found in commercial long- grain rice in the U.S. This led to restrictions on exports, bans on two of the highest-yield rice seed varieties and a drop in market prices for U.S. rice, the farmers said.
"All the class members suffered some damages in 2006," providing a common issue for a group lawsuit, said farmers' attorney Don Downing at a hearing today in federal court in St. Louis. Individual lawsuits would be inefficient, he said. "It would mean 700 separate trials."
The farmers asked U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry to grant class action status to five separate statewide classes of rice growers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas. A class action allows plaintiffs to sue as a group, reducing the cost of litigation and increasing pressure on defendants to settle. The farmers are seeking unspecified damages.
The lawsuits name as defendants Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer and current subsidiaries or predecessor units including Bayer CropScience AG. Bayer opposes class certification and denies the allegations.
The class requested wasn't ``clearly defined,'' Bayer attorney Mark Ferguson argued today. ``With some of these people, you can't tell whether the rice price was set before or after'' the August 2006 USDA announcement.
`Unsupported Assumptions'
``Plaintiffs base their class-certification motion on a collection of unsupported assumptions,'' the company said in court papers. The plaintiffs' individual claims predominate, making the lawsuit ineligible for class-action status, Ferguson said today.
Perry, who also considered evidence from two experts at the hearing, didn't indicate when she would decide on the farmers' motion. ``After listening to the experts this morning, I would hate to think about going through this 700 times,'' she said.
The farmers claim that a Bayer predecessor company genetically altered long-grain rice to become resistant to the active ingredient in a herbicide. Bayer failed to keep this gene from contaminating crops and rice seeds, the farmers said in their complaint.
On Aug. 18, 2006, the USDA said ``unapproved genetically modified rice had been found in supplies destined for human consumption and export,'' the farmers said in their complaint. The USDA said it had been notified of the contamination by Bayer CropScience.
Foreign Fallout
``The ensuing fallout from foreign markets was swift,'' the farmers said in their complaint. Japan banned imports and the European Union restricted shipments, they said.
Within days, the price of rice futures dropped more than 9 percent, said the farmers' agricultural commodities expert Colin Carter, a professor at the University of California at Davis. The USDA announcement ``hit the market like a big lead weight and suddenly changed the market dynamics and sent the rice futures down sharply,'' Carter said in court papers.
Two of the most popular rice seed varieties were contaminated, leading to bans on their use, the farmers said. This caused further damages, as rice growers turned to less- desirable seeds or other less-profitable crops, the farmers said in their complaint.
The USDA said in October that it wasn't able to determine how the contamination occurred. The USDA, which concluded its investigation, said it wouldn't pursue an enforcement action against Bayer. The gene found in rice samples and seeds didn't pose any safety concerns and had been approved for use in other products, the agency said.
The contamination was limited to long-grain rice, the USDA said. The five states involved in the lawsuits produce more than 95 percent of U.S. long-grain rice, farmers' attorney Adam Levitt said in an interview before the hearing.
The lawsuits are consolidated in In Re Genetically Modified Rice Litigation, 06-MD-1181, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis).
To contact the reporter on this story: Margaret Cronin Fisk in Southfield, Michigan, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Joe Whittington at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..