SAN FRANCISCO - Monsanto Co.'s "seed police" are constantly prowling the nation's farm belt in search of growers using genetically engineered seeds they haven't purchased.
They found Mississippi soy farmer Homan McFarling in 1999. He said the company is now demanding he pay $1.2 million for allegedly "pirating" its technology. In doing so, Monsanto is attempting to protect its business in much the same way the entertainment industry does when it sues underground digital distributors exploiting music, movies and video games.
McFarling, 62, is in court for saving seed from one harvest and replanting it the following season, a revered and ancient agricultural practice. But saving Monsanto's seeds, genetically engineered to resist weed sprays, violates provisions of Monsanto's licensing contracts with farmers.
McFarling is hardly alone on this new frontier of piracy lawsuits, a legal assault critics say is radically altering farming habits around the world.
"My daddy saved seed. I saved seed," said McFarling who still grows soy on the 5,000 acre family farm near Tupelo. "Monsanto is ruining farming."
In a similar case a year ago, Tennessee farmer Kem Ralph was sued by Monsanto and sentenced to eight months in prison after he was caught lying about a truckload of cotton seed he hid for a friend. Ralph's prison term is believed to be the first criminal prosecution linked to Monsanto's crackdown. Ralph has also been ordered to pay Monsanto more than $1.7 million.
A new report issued Thursday by biotechnology foe The Center for Food Safety shows Monsanto has filed 90 similar lawsuits against 147 farmers and 39 agricultural companies since 1997.
Most of the cases accuse farmers of saving seeds in violation of the company's licensing agreements. The company itself says it annually investigates about 500 "tips" that farmers are illegally using its seeds and settles many of those cases before a lawsuit is filed.
Monsanto's licensing contracts and litigation tactics are coming under increased scrutiny as more of the planet's farmland comes under genetically engineered cultivation. Some 200 million acres of the world's farms grew biotech crops last year, an increase of 20 percent from 2003, according to a separate report released Wednesday.
Many of the farmers Monsanto has sued say they didn't read the company's technology agreement close enough or never received an agreement in the first place.
The company counters that it sues only the most egregious violations and is protecting the 300,000 law-abiding farmers who annually pay a premium for its technology. Some 85 percent of the nation's soy crop is genetically engineered to resist Monsanto's herbicide Roundup, a trait many farmers said makes it easier to weed their fields and ultimately cheaper to grow their crops.
"It's a very efficient and cost-effective way to raise soy beans and that's why the market has embraced it," said Ron Heck, who grows 900 acres of genetically engineered soy beans in Perry, Iowa.
Heck, who is also chairman of the American Soybean Association, said he doesn't mind buying new seed each year and appreciates Monsanto's crackdown on competitors who don't pay for their seed.
"You can save seed if you want to use the old technology," Heck said.
The company said the licensing agreement protects its more than 600 biotech-related patents and ensures a return on its research and development expenses, which amount to more than $400 million annually.
"We have to balance our obligations and our responsibilities to our customers, to our employees and to our shareholders," said Scott Baucum, director of Monsanto's trait stewardship.
Still, Monsanto's investigative tactics are sewing seeds of fear and mistrust in some farming communities, company critics said. The company encourages farmers to call a company hot line with piracy tips while employing a stable of private investigators who descend on farm communities with intrusive questions of neighbors and businesses once Monsanto acts on a lead.
Baucum acknowledged that the company walks a fine line when it sues farmers.
"It is very uncomfortable for us," Baucum said. "They are our customers and they are important to us."
The Center for Food Safety established its own hot line Thursday where farmers getting sued can receive aid. It also said it hopes to convene a meeting among defense lawyers to develop legal strategies to fight Monsanto.
The company said it has gone to trial five times and has never lost a legal fight against an accused pirate. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1980 allowed for the patenting of genetically engineered life forms and extended the same protections to altered plants in 2001. Earlier this year, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. specifically upheld Monsanto's license.
"It's sad. It's sickening. I'm disillusioned," said Rodney Nelson, a North Dakota farmer who settled a Monsanto suit in 2001 that he said was unfairly filed. "We have a heck of an uphill battle that I don't think can be won."Associated Press/Paul Elias
