Soybean Seed Saving Now a Historic Practice
Monsanto's "seed police" snared soybean farmer Homan McFarling in 1999, and the company is demanding he pay it hundreds of thousands of dollars for alleged technology piracy. McFarling, 62, who still grows soybeans on the 5,000 acre family farm in Shannon, MS and is fighting the company in court, was quoted as saying, "My daddy saved seed. I saved seed."
Since 1997, Monsanto has filed similar lawsuits 90 times in 25 states against 147 farmers and 39 agriculture companies, according to a report issued by The Center for Food Safety. Currently, 85 percent of the nation's soybean crop is genetically engineered to resist Monsanto's herbicide Roundup®, a trait many farmers say makes it easier to weed their fields and ultimately cheaper to grow their crops. Ron Heck, who grows 900 acres of genetically engineered soybeans in Perry, IA and is also chairman of the American Soybean Association, was cited as saying he doesn't mind buying new seed each year and appreciates Monsanto's crackdown on competitors who don't pay for their seed, adding, "It's a very efficient and cost-effective way to raise soybeans and that's why the market has embraced it. You can save seed if you want to use the old technology."
Scott Baucum, Monsanto's chief intellectual property protector, was cited as saying 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, adding, "We have to balance our obligations and our responsibilities to our customers, to our employees and to our shareholders." (AP, 1/13/05).
