Ethanol Blog

Two Missouri farm operations have joined a class-action lawsuit filed by three law firms on behalf of corn farmers in 20 states against Syngenta regarding its Agrisure Viptera and Agrisure Duracade genetic traits.

According to an article by the Southeast Missourian (http://bit.ly/…), the lawsuits were filed on Nov. 11 in St. Louis and Kansas City, Kan., and were considered the most comprehensive action taken on the issue to date. The 20 states involved in the lawsuits grew 86% of U.S. corn in 2014.

The farmers claim they have suffered economic losses from the trait, as they did not knowingly plant corn containing the trait. The lawsuits also accuse Syngenta of causing economic harm since it marketed the GMO corn that was outlawed in China, which began refusing shipments of U.S. corn and distillers grain containing the trait.

The lawsuit asks for market price loss, since losing the Chinese market caused U.S. corn prices to plummet, with losses to corn growers between $1 billion and $2.9 billion.

Syngenta announced on Dec. 22 that it received a safety certificate from Chinese authorities granting import approval for the Agrisure Viptera (MIR 162) trait.

Cheryl Anderson can be reached at Cheryl.anderson@dtn.com

(ES)

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