HomeNewsSoybean Farmer Loses Supreme Court Challenge To Biotech Giant Monsanto
May 21, 2013

Soybean Farmer Loses Supreme Court Challenge To Biotech Giant Monsanto

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Monsanto Monday, in a major challenge to the biotech giant’s dominant market share over soybeans. Justice Elena Kagan held in a narrow ruling that farmer Victor “Hugh” Bowman violated Monsanto’s patent over its pervasive herbicide-resistant soybeans when it utilized the common practice of saving seeds from a first growing season and replanting them for a second, without paying Monsanto for the use of its technology every year. Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” seeds are used to grow about 90 percent of the nation’s soybean crop, and food safety experts say the vigorous patent enforcement has led to skyrocketing seed pricesand less innovation by smaller firms.

Victor “Hugh” Bowman has been battling the corporation since 2007, when Monsanto sued him for violating their patent protection by purchasing second-generation GM seeds from a grain elevator. 

Monsanto is notorious among farmers for the company’s aggressive investigations and pursuit of farmers they believe have infringed on Monsanto’s patents. In the past 13 years, Monsanto has sued 410 farmers and 56 small farm businesses, almost always settling out of court (the few farmers that can afford to go to trial are always defeated). These farmers were usually sued for saving second-generation seeds for the next harvest — a basic farming practice rendered illegal because seeds generated by GM crops contain Monsanto’s patented genes.

Monsanto’s winning streak hinges on a controversial Supreme Court decision from 1981, which ruled on a 5-4 split that living organisms could be patented as private property. As a result of that decision, every new generation of GM seeds — and their self-replicating technology — is considered Monsanto’s property.
Unfortunately, second- and third-generation seeds are very hard to track, which may explain why Monsanto devotes $10 million a year and 75 staffers to investigating farmers for possible patent violations. Seeds are easily carried by birds or blown by the wind into fields of non-GM seeds, exposing farmers who have never bought seeds from Monsanto to lawsuits. Organic and conventional seeds are fast becoming extinct — 93 percent of soybeans, 88 percent of cotton, and 86 percent of corn in the US are grownfrom Monsanto’s patented seeds. A recent study discovered that at least half of the organic seeds in the US are contaminated with some genetically modified material.

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