4 ms·

I think you are right, however it kinda seems they already put up with a lot more from companies selling them their 'patented' seeds and the constraints that co

by kelvin0 10y ago

I think you are right, however it kinda seems they already put up with a lot more from companies selling them their 'patented' seeds and the constraints that come with those seeds. I once saw a doc mentioning a farmer that got 'fined' by a seed company because he had some seeds he did not pay for in his crop, these few plants that grew because the neighboring farmer was using them and the wind blew some on the side of his lot. Also, they are no longer allowed to stock up on the seeds, they need to renew their stock... Has anyone seen this also?

secfirstmd 10y ago
Yeah that sounds familiar. I think it was a documentary about Monsanto. Can't remember the exact name, might have been a BBC program?
- 09bjb 10y ago
  You're probably remembering "Food, Inc."
j_s 10y ago
"Monsanto wins landmark patent case in Supreme Court" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5700514 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5700514 tptacek 1408 days ago: Once again regarding this story: to understand what's happening here, it's very important that you understand that the farmer didn't just acquire Monsanto seeds, but also used glyphospate herbicides on the crops. The point of Monsanto's invention is that it survives Roundup; if you spray Roundup on normal crops, they die. Most people who see this story play out seem to think that it implies a Monsanto seed could blow onto your field and then get you sued. But of course, if you didn't know you were planting Monsanto seeds, you wouldn't think to try to kill them with Roundup.
bazzert 10y ago
Myth # 2 ... http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top-five-myths-of-genetically-modified-seeds-busted http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top...
whalesalad 10y ago
You make a decent point, but if you're unhappy with a patented seed variety, you can change that the following season. When you buy a combine you are making a pretty big commitment. They are many hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not only that, but it's mostly in your best interest to buy the same brand to buy-in to the ecosystem of parts, dealers, knowledge, etc... so sometimes there is inertia to overcome if you want to transition from, say Deere to Case IH. It would be like switching from Apple/Lightning to Android/USB-C except instead of a few thousand bucks on devices and maybe a hundred on cables, you're talking millions of dollars.

by kelvin0 10y ago

secfirstmd 10y ago

Yeah that sounds familiar. I think it was a documentary about Monsanto. Can't remember the exact name, might have been a BBC program?

09bjb 10y ago
You're probably remembering "Food, Inc."

j_s 10y ago

"Monsanto wins landmark patent case in Supreme Court" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5700514 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5700514 tptacek 1408 days ago: Once again regarding this story: to understand what's happening here, it's very important that you understand that the farmer didn't just acquire Monsanto seeds, but also used glyphospate herbicides on the crops. The point of Monsanto's invention is that it survives Roundup; if you spray Roundup on normal crops, they die. Most people who see this story play out seem to think that it implies a Monsanto seed could blow onto your field and then get you sued. But of course, if you didn't know you were planting Monsanto seeds, you wouldn't think to try to kill them with Roundup.

bazzert 10y ago

Myth # 2 ... http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top-five-myths-of-genetically-modified-seeds-busted http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top...

whalesalad 10y ago

You make a decent point, but if you're unhappy with a patented seed variety, you can change that the following season. When you buy a combine you are making a pretty big commitment. They are many hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not only that, but it's mostly in your best interest to buy the same brand to buy-in to the ecosystem of parts, dealers, knowledge, etc... so sometimes there is inertia to overcome if you want to transition from, say Deere to Case IH. It would be like switching from Apple/Lightning to Android/USB-C except instead of a few thousand bucks on devices and maybe a hundred on cables, you're talking millions of dollars.