7 ms·

Looks like a good case for class action lawsuit for all the surrounding farmers that have suffer damage from this. There are scientific proof, clear documented

by srcmap 9y ago

Looks like a good case for class action lawsuit for all the surrounding farmers that have suffer damage from this. There are scientific proof, clear documented $$$ damage, etc. Any idea why it has not initiated yet?

saluki 9y ago
It's in the works. I'm hearing radio law firm ads in the midwest asking for farmers who have suffered Dicamba crop damage to call them.
- dexterdog 9y ago
  So the law firms may do well while the farmers will get maybe half of their lost crops back.
christophilus 9y ago
I have an idea, but it's pure speculation. Fear. Going up against Monstanto and the like is a good way to get into trouble. [0][1] There are many other examples. Often, they are mixed with sentimentalism or sensationalism (and these examples might be, too-- they're the result of 5 seconds of Googling). But beneath the ones I've read/watched, there's clearly some truth. [0] https://modernfarmer.com/2015/09/seeding-fear-the-story-of-a-farmer-who-took-on-monsanto/ https://modernfarmer.com/2015/09/seeding-fear-the-story-of-a... [1] https://www.rt.com/news/206787-monsanto-india-farmers-suicides/ https://www.rt.com/news/206787-monsanto-india-farmers-suicid...
- rwoodley 9y ago
  Please don't cite rt.com. That is pure Russian propaganda. Not saying your general point is wrong, but the minute you cite rt.com you're basically repeating politcally generated fake news straight from the Kremlin.
  - oh_sigh 9y ago
    Agreed. Also, don't cite BBC because it is fake news straight from Buckingham. Also, don't quote WSJ or NYT because it is fake news straight from the 1%. And don't quote CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News because they are all just fake news buzzfeed wannabes.
    - wavefunction 9y ago
      Buckingham? The British monarchy is only a figurehead.
      - bdamm 9y ago
        Right, they probably meant Downing Street.
      - macawfish 9y ago
        I took that as silly humor. Buckingham is a funny word.
      - googlryas 9y ago
        It's cute you believe that. Ever read the Black Spider memos?
        dvfjsdhgfv 9y ago
        From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_spider_memos#Reception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_spider_memos#Reception: "The Black Spider Memos met with little criticism, and public support for the Prince of Wales."
        googlryas 9y ago
        Most people in the UK will support the monarchy regardless of what they do. Including meddling in political affairs and not being figure heads.
    - okreallywtf 9y ago
- at-fates-hands 9y ago
  I remember seeing a documentary film about this. I think it was called, "The Future of Food" and it documented pretty well Monsanto's MO to go after farmers who aren't using their seeds. Farmer's who don't use their seeds are sued for patent infringement if a neighbors seeds blow onto their land and they find out about it. Monsanto is a modern day Mafia cartel, it's insane.
  - sli 9y ago
    No, they don't sue for that. Myth #2 as listed here: 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...
    - icantdrive55 9y ago
      "It's certainly true that Monsanto has been going after farmers whom the company suspects of using GMO seeds without paying royalties. And there are plenty of cases — including Schmeiser's — in which the company has overreached, engaged in raw intimidation, and made accusations that turned out not to be backed up by evidence." 1. Right out of the blog. 2. How much harrasement do we not hear about? 3. So---it's not quite a myth?
  - shoyer 9y ago
    > Farmer's who don't use their seeds are sued for patent infringement if a neighbors seeds blow onto their land and they find out about it. This is not true. This NPR article, written by the same author as top link, was already linked above: 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...
dvfjsdhgfv 9y ago
Would you? So far Monsanto was able to crush everybody - by threats, lawyers, sponsored research, lobbying, you name it. Would you like to be the first one to try your luck?
bloaf 9y ago
Why not first penalize the farmers who used the stuff? That would make farmers think twice about using untested herbicides. Then, if a farmer does use a Monsanto product and accidentally burns his neighbor, he can be the one who has to try to recoup the losses from Monsanto (e.g. through false advertising claims.)
- CodeWriter23 9y ago
  Dicamba and the rushed-to-market GMO Dicamba-resistant crops were all certified by the USDA and FDA prior to use. The problem here is the scientific studies used by the FDA in certifying products are produced by the vendor, instead of an adversarial third party. Combine that with Monsanto’s formidable PR and Legal capabilities, and of course, the result is dangerous products that nobody can even talk about. This whistleblower guy at the University of Missouri, his career is over. Monsanto will see to that through either withdrawing its funding to their research programs, or by funding them even more, with the quid-pro-quo that this guy is fired for some unrelated reason, like phony performance reviews, or perhaps allegations of him sleeping with a student.
- FilterSweep 9y ago
  I've only worked on a farm with a college roommate for a very brief period of time, but I would assume Monsanto does the exact same thing big pharma does with Doctors and Nurses - Hire extremely attractive men and women to go to farms and sell some 'Santo Seed.
mcguire 9y ago
Lawsuits are expensive and agriculture is a low margin enterprise. Further Monsanto would likely field a team of lawyers for the defense. According to one of the side bars, disputes between farmers have already led to one death.
- saluki 9y ago
  this happened last fall https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2016/10/28/confrontation-herbicide-drift-leads https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2016/1...
antispew 9y ago
Farmers cannot fight Monsanto. That is suicide. Let's say you sue for an entire year's worth of crops and you win. Then you win the appeal. And you win the appeal of the appeal. All the way up the chain. For 10 years, you win on every level. But you never plant another crop and you go out of business. At this point, Monsanto owns the world of agriculture. If you are planting something that is not owned by Monsanto, you are losing. Monsanta-engineered crops have such a higher yield that to plant anything else would wipe out your profit margin. The higher yield is magnified by the fact that non-Monsanto crops planted anywhere near Monsanto crops are dying from Monsanto herbicides. It's simple math. No farmer can survive 10 years of losses due to inferior production. The giants like ADP won't go after Monsanto because they have not been affected. They are already using Monsanto seed. Young independents won't go after Monsanto because the only way they can compete against the ADPs is to use Monsanto. So you have a few handfuls of old farmers who are ready to retire and have no family who want to carry on. They are going to sell out to some cookie-cutter subdivision developer anyway, so maybe they could be enticed into an otherwise suicidal court case. Or maybe they don't have the energy for it. Those who win (iffy at best) will not win a real windfall. No court is going to give Monsanto a death sentence. And the farmers will have a hardtime arguing too much harm when they still got 50% of their crop harvested and made $millions$ by selling the land. Mansanto can absorb a million dollar settlement here and there. If I'm Monsanto, I'm not worried. If I'm a no-holds-barred in-it-for-the-buck securities advisor, I'd say "buy Monsanto." I might also say, "short Whole Foods" because their supply is dwindling and their prices have to go up. If I'm a save-the-world stop-injustice activist, I'm looking for new sources of significant capital to stem the tide. And I'll keep fighting on because it was a dim prospect from the beginning anyway.
- prklmn 9y ago
  > Let's say you sue for an entire year's worth of crops and you win. Then you win the appeal. And you win the appeal of the appeal. All the way up the chain. For 10 years, you win on every level. Herein lies the beauty of a class action suit. Let the lawyers finance and worry about the lawsuit while you go on your merry way running your farm.
  - 9y ago
nobodyorother 9y ago
Arbitration clauses?

by srcmap 9y ago

saluki 9y ago

It's in the works. I'm hearing radio law firm ads in the midwest asking for farmers who have suffered Dicamba crop damage to call them.

dexterdog 9y ago
So the law firms may do well while the farmers will get maybe half of their lost crops back.

christophilus 9y ago

I have an idea, but it's pure speculation. Fear. Going up against Monstanto and the like is a good way to get into trouble. [0][1] There are many other examples. Often, they are mixed with sentimentalism or sensationalism (and these examples might be, too-- they're the result of 5 seconds of Googling). But beneath the ones I've read/watched, there's clearly some truth. [0] https://modernfarmer.com/2015/09/seeding-fear-the-story-of-a-farmer-who-took-on-monsanto/ https://modernfarmer.com/2015/09/seeding-fear-the-story-of-a... [1] https://www.rt.com/news/206787-monsanto-india-farmers-suicides/ https://www.rt.com/news/206787-monsanto-india-farmers-suicid...

rwoodley 9y ago
Please don't cite rt.com. That is pure Russian propaganda. Not saying your general point is wrong, but the minute you cite rt.com you're basically repeating politcally generated fake news straight from the Kremlin.
- oh_sigh 9y ago
  Agreed. Also, don't cite BBC because it is fake news straight from Buckingham. Also, don't quote WSJ or NYT because it is fake news straight from the 1%. And don't quote CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News because they are all just fake news buzzfeed wannabes.
  - wavefunction 9y ago
    Buckingham? The British monarchy is only a figurehead.
    - bdamm 9y ago
      Right, they probably meant Downing Street.
    - macawfish 9y ago
      I took that as silly humor. Buckingham is a funny word.
    - googlryas 9y ago
      It's cute you believe that. Ever read the Black Spider memos?
      - dvfjsdhgfv 9y ago
        From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_spider_memos#Reception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_spider_memos#Reception: "The Black Spider Memos met with little criticism, and public support for the Prince of Wales."
        googlryas 9y ago
        Most people in the UK will support the monarchy regardless of what they do. Including meddling in political affairs and not being figure heads.
  - okreallywtf 9y ago
at-fates-hands 9y ago
I remember seeing a documentary film about this. I think it was called, "The Future of Food" and it documented pretty well Monsanto's MO to go after farmers who aren't using their seeds. Farmer's who don't use their seeds are sued for patent infringement if a neighbors seeds blow onto their land and they find out about it. Monsanto is a modern day Mafia cartel, it's insane.
- sli 9y ago
  No, they don't sue for that. Myth #2 as listed here: 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...
  - icantdrive55 9y ago
    "It's certainly true that Monsanto has been going after farmers whom the company suspects of using GMO seeds without paying royalties. And there are plenty of cases — including Schmeiser's — in which the company has overreached, engaged in raw intimidation, and made accusations that turned out not to be backed up by evidence." 1. Right out of the blog. 2. How much harrasement do we not hear about? 3. So---it's not quite a myth?
- shoyer 9y ago
  > Farmer's who don't use their seeds are sued for patent infringement if a neighbors seeds blow onto their land and they find out about it. This is not true. This NPR article, written by the same author as top link, was already linked above: 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...

dvfjsdhgfv 9y ago

Would you? So far Monsanto was able to crush everybody - by threats, lawyers, sponsored research, lobbying, you name it. Would you like to be the first one to try your luck?

bloaf 9y ago

Why not first penalize the farmers who used the stuff? That would make farmers think twice about using untested herbicides. Then, if a farmer does use a Monsanto product and accidentally burns his neighbor, he can be the one who has to try to recoup the losses from Monsanto (e.g. through false advertising claims.)

CodeWriter23 9y ago
Dicamba and the rushed-to-market GMO Dicamba-resistant crops were all certified by the USDA and FDA prior to use. The problem here is the scientific studies used by the FDA in certifying products are produced by the vendor, instead of an adversarial third party. Combine that with Monsanto’s formidable PR and Legal capabilities, and of course, the result is dangerous products that nobody can even talk about. This whistleblower guy at the University of Missouri, his career is over. Monsanto will see to that through either withdrawing its funding to their research programs, or by funding them even more, with the quid-pro-quo that this guy is fired for some unrelated reason, like phony performance reviews, or perhaps allegations of him sleeping with a student.
FilterSweep 9y ago
I've only worked on a farm with a college roommate for a very brief period of time, but I would assume Monsanto does the exact same thing big pharma does with Doctors and Nurses - Hire extremely attractive men and women to go to farms and sell some 'Santo Seed.

mcguire 9y ago

Lawsuits are expensive and agriculture is a low margin enterprise. Further Monsanto would likely field a team of lawyers for the defense. According to one of the side bars, disputes between farmers have already led to one death.

saluki 9y ago
this happened last fall https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2016/10/28/confrontation-herbicide-drift-leads https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2016/1...

antispew 9y ago

Farmers cannot fight Monsanto. That is suicide. Let's say you sue for an entire year's worth of crops and you win. Then you win the appeal. And you win the appeal of the appeal. All the way up the chain. For 10 years, you win on every level. But you never plant another crop and you go out of business. At this point, Monsanto owns the world of agriculture. If you are planting something that is not owned by Monsanto, you are losing. Monsanta-engineered crops have such a higher yield that to plant anything else would wipe out your profit margin. The higher yield is magnified by the fact that non-Monsanto crops planted anywhere near Monsanto crops are dying from Monsanto herbicides. It's simple math. No farmer can survive 10 years of losses due to inferior production. The giants like ADP won't go after Monsanto because they have not been affected. They are already using Monsanto seed. Young independents won't go after Monsanto because the only way they can compete against the ADPs is to use Monsanto. So you have a few handfuls of old farmers who are ready to retire and have no family who want to carry on. They are going to sell out to some cookie-cutter subdivision developer anyway, so maybe they could be enticed into an otherwise suicidal court case. Or maybe they don't have the energy for it. Those who win (iffy at best) will not win a real windfall. No court is going to give Monsanto a death sentence. And the farmers will have a hardtime arguing too much harm when they still got 50% of their crop harvested and made $millions$ by selling the land. Mansanto can absorb a million dollar settlement here and there. If I'm Monsanto, I'm not worried. If I'm a no-holds-barred in-it-for-the-buck securities advisor, I'd say "buy Monsanto." I might also say, "short Whole Foods" because their supply is dwindling and their prices have to go up. If I'm a save-the-world stop-injustice activist, I'm looking for new sources of significant capital to stem the tide. And I'll keep fighting on because it was a dim prospect from the beginning anyway.

prklmn 9y ago
> Let's say you sue for an entire year's worth of crops and you win. Then you win the appeal. And you win the appeal of the appeal. All the way up the chain. For 10 years, you win on every level. Herein lies the beauty of a class action suit. Let the lawyers finance and worry about the lawsuit while you go on your merry way running your farm.
- 9y ago

nobodyorother 9y ago

Arbitration clauses?