Monsanto Corporation v. Percy Schmeiser

Editors' note: This article is not new, but offers a well-balanced introduction to the issues involved in the pending lawsuit that is scheduled for trial in Canada's Supreme Court in early 2004. We will be covering this case in-depth at the time of the trial.

In 2002, Canada's Federal Court of Appeal upheld a ruling that found Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser guilty of illegally planting genetically modified canola patented by the Monsanto agrochemical company. Schmeiser was ordered to pay $175,000 in damages and court costs.

Percy Schmeiser learned early in life that wind is often a farmer's worst enemy. Wind blows the seeds and pollen of weeds into farm fields, choking out crops. But now the farmer from Bruno, Sask., says the wind brought a new threat to his 1,000-acre canola farm - genetically modified canola seeds sold only by the world's largest agrochemical company, Monsanto. The company says he stole them.

The seed is engineered to resist the Monsanto-created week-killer known as Roundup. When Roundup is sprayed on a field, it kills everything growing except the special seed.

Many Canadian farmers want the Monsanto seeds, but while they can buy it for a price, Monsanto keeps the rights to the DNA itself. That's what makes the seed special and that's where Monsanto makes its money.

Farmers traditionally plant their fields using seed saved from their previous year's crop. Just like in human beings, the DNA of seed is passed along from generation to generation. If there were no control mechanisms in place, a farmer could conceivably buy Monsanto's special seed once, and pass the seeds from year to year and never have to pay for it again.

So the problem for Monsanto is protecting its investment. In the brave new world of agriculture, it's Monsanto versus the farmer. Farmers buying Monsanto's seed must sign a contract promising to buy fresh seed every year. Then they must let Monsanto inspect their fields for cheating - something the company says Percy Schmeiser is guilty of.

Monsanto's regional director in Western Canada is Randy Christenson. He says the company has to be tough. "We've put years, years and years of research and time into developing this technology," he said. "So for us to be able to recoup our investment, we have to be able to be paid for that."

Schmeiser says he's never used Monsanto's seed. He saves the seeds from his own crops, then replants them in the spring.

"I've been farming for 50 years, and all of a sudden I have this," Schmeiser said. "It's very upsetting and nerve-wracking to have a multi-giant corporation come after you. I don't have the resources to fight this."

Monsanto first got a tip about Schmeiser on its toll-free snitch-line. Monsanto asks farmers to turn in neighbours they suspect of growing the seed without paying.

Monsanto uses private investigators from a Saskatoon firm to check out the tips. Investigators patrolling grid roads took crop samples from Schmeiser's fields to check for Monsanto's DNA.

The company doesn't apologize for playing hardball. But the Monsanto representatives insist the whole process is very friendly. Monsanto calls its investigations "audits."

"Yes, we do have a group that do audit, they do make farm visits, but they do it in a way that is extremely respectful to the farmers," Christenson said.

"And, in fact, I would encourage you to talk to the farmers who have been through it. They're very comfortable with what they're doing. We never, never, go on their property, never, without their permission."

But court documents show Monsanto ordered its investigators to trespass on Schmeiser's fields and collect samples. Then Monsanto agents paid a secret visit to the company that processes Schmeiser's seeds for planting. Gary Pappenfort was the manager.

"We were approached by someone in Monsanto asking if Percy had some seed treated there, we said there was," he said. "They asked for a sample. I asked my superior in Saskatoon if it was OK to give a sample. He said it was OK, so we did," Pappenfort said.

Schmeiser isn't alone in being accused of stealing Monsanto seed. The company has accused dozens of farmers of growing the special seed without paying.

The problem is, Schmeiser says, Mother Nature has been moving DNA around for thousands of years. Monsanto's is just the latest. "It will blow in the wind," he said. "You can't control it. You can't put a fence around it and say that's where it stops. It might end up 10 miles, 20 miles away," Schmeiser said.

His claims are backed up by some impressive research. Scientists from Agriculture Canada say wind can blow seeds or pollen between fields, meaning the DNA of crops in one field often mixes with that in another.

Seeds or pollen can also be blown off uncovered trucks and off farm equipment. But Monsanto seems to be saying it's up to farmers to dig out any Monsanto crops blowing into their fields. But without a microscope, there's no way to tell regular crops from crops carrying the company's DNA.

In 1998, Edward Zilinski of Micado, Sask., traded seeds with a farmer from Prince Albert. This is an old farming tradition. But the seeds he got in return had Monsanto's DNA. Monsanto told Zilinski that he and his wife owe the company more than $28,000 in penalties. "Farmer's should have some rights of their own," Zilinski says.

Monsanto's heavy hand has sparked the anger of many farmers in Western Canada. The Kram family in Raymore say planes and a helicopter have buzzed their fields. The couple says agents dropped weed-killer on their canola field, to see if the crops had the Monsanto's gene.

Monsanto said it had absolutely nothing to do with it. The Krams say otherwise.

"We are honestly disgusted with the way things are going," Elizabeth Kram said. "Who put the canola in? It is the farmer. It doesn't belong to Monsanto or anybody else and I don't see anybody else's name on the titles of all the land we own. It's my husband and myself. Nobody else. We're thoroughly pissed off."

For his part, Percy Schmeiser believes Monsanto hopes to force farmers into accepting genetically engineered products. Schmeiser is standing up to Monsanto in court. "I'm going to fight, and fight and fight," he says. "Because I believe what is happening to farmers is wrong. And I'm fighting this not just for myself, but for my children and my grandchildren and for my farmer's friends."

"As you move to adopt new technology, whether it was from the horse to the car, there was a great deal of controversy, questions being asked, on how to deal with certain issues," Monsanto's Christenson says.

But the real question is whether or not Monsanto or anybody else can patent a piece of nature. The answer could determine who controls the future of world farming.

©2003 CBC News

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