Percy Schmeiser, a Canadian
canola (rapeseed) farmer was doing in 1997 what he had been doing
for five decades-- farming the crop he had been breeding from saved
seed to make it stronger, when something bad happened. He got sued
by corporate giant, Monsanto, because his crop contained their Round-Up
Ready genetic material, which they own a patent on.
Monsanto developed their Round-Up Ready canola to be resistant
to the herbicide Round-Up, which they also sell. This food crop
can be sprayed with the weed killer, which would kill normal canola,
and survive. The company does not sell their patented seeds, they
sell what amounts to a one-year lease on the use of the seeds, meaning
the farmer cannot legally save the seed for next year's crop, something
farmers have been doing for thousands of years.
Mr. Schmeiser says he did not want Round-Up Ready seed because
he did not want to use Round-Up weed killer on his canola. He claims
he wanted to use his own strain of carefully developed seed. He
says he became aware that his crop was contaminated with the Round-Up
Ready gene when he tried to use Round Up to kill stray canola around
telephone poles, and it would not die. He tested part of his crop
and found that some was also contaminated. He thinks that his crop
may have been contaminated with the Round Up Ready gene by windborne
seeds or pollen, or canola seeds (which are tiny and easily scattered)
that fell from passing trucks.
The court ruled in favor of Monsanto and ordered Mr. Schmeiser
to pay a fine of $25,000 plus the value of his crop, $105,000, plus
the patent fees of $15 per acre times his 1030 acres. Not because
he had stolen seeds, but because his plants contained the patented
material. The judge basically said it wasn't the court's job to
try to figure out how the genes got into Mr. Schmeiser's plants,
only that Monsanto had proven they were there, and they owned the
patent, so the farmer had to pay.
This seems to me like a rapist suing for custody if his rape victim
bears his child. After all, who cares how the genetic material got
there? - it obviously belongs to him. Learn more about Mr. Schmeiser
and his ongoing battle at www.percyschmeiser.com.
See Also:
Canadian Organic Farmers Sue Monsanto
