For the Record...

While I'd heard that Monsanto sued farmers, and that one farmer had taken a case to the Canadian Supreme Court, until relatively recently I was not terribly knowledgable about the specifics. Then I heard a podcast of a speech by Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser - the farmer who got sued. And it is VERY worth knowing about, which is why I will share it with you here.

Percy Schmeiser is a canola farmer. He's been farming for over 50 years in Saskatchewan, Canada, and he does research to breed new varieties of canola. In other words: he's the very last person who would want Monsanto's GM seeds on his property because they would muck up his research. Schmeiser is also somewhat savvy in politics and the law, as he served as mayor of his town and in the legislative assembly of his province. So that set the scene for what happened with Monsanto.

Some years back, Monsanto's Roundup Ready canola appeared on Schmeiser's property. He didn't buy it and he didn't plant it. After all, because he was doing research with his own seeds for 50 years, he would save seeds and plant them the next season, removing the need to purchase seeds. But Monsanto discovered their crops on his property somehow, and they took him to court. They decided to make him an example, to show other farmers that you can't steal Monsanto's seeds without paying the price.

The case waged on for many years. If you listen to the podcast you'll hear how many lawyers Monsanto had vs. the number Percy had (I think it's 18 to 1) and the amount Monsanto spent vs. the amount Percy spent in legal fees (Schmeiser spent a few hundred thousand... a LOT of money to a farmer who should have never been sued in the first place!). Initially, the court ruled in favor of Monsanto. They ruled that anything with Monsanto's genes in it is Monsanto's property, and as such, Monsanto was the rightful owner of Percy's entire crop for that year. While that would be devastating to any farmer, for Schmeiser it was particularly harsh because his crops represented the culmination of 50 years of research.

When the case reached the Supreme Court, the bit about Monsanto getting Schmeiser's entire crop was reversed, so it was half a victory for Schmeiser. But they also ruled that Monsanto owned anything that contained its genes, as the lower court had said.

A few years later, Monsanto's Roundup Ready canola appeared in Schmeiser's field again. He hadn't planted anything in that field in a while, and he was getting it ready to plant something else, so it was odd that some canola popped up there. He called up Monsanto and said he thought their plants were on his field, could they please come and remove them. Monsanto came and tested the canola, which did turn out to be their Roundup Ready canola. But then they told Schmeiser they would only remove the canola if he would sign something promising to keep quiet about his dealings with Monsanto and that he would never sue Monsanto. He refused.

Schmeiser insisted that Monsanto must come remove THEIR property from HIS property. They refused. He said he would do it himself and send them the bill. Monsanto threatened him that the canola was their property and he was not to touch it. In the end, he removed the canola himself at a cost of $660, took Monsanto to small claims court, and won the $660.

(Photo credit: theowl84 on Flickr.com)