Farmers // Current TV

Indian farmers battle against nuclear plant

A robust people's movement against a major nuclear power project has built up in... more

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Seed prices soar while yields stagnate

American farmers, do you see the truth now? YOU ARE BEING HAD BY MONSANTO.... more

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DOJ "Monsanto" antitrust probe just a sham

Only one out of 23 speakers at DOJ/USDA event earns a living growing crops or raising livestock

By Lynda Waddington 3/4/10 12:01 AM
Farmers and consumers, who are not anticipated to play a major role in the Justice Department’s upcoming agriculture antitrust roundtable in Ankeny, are still intent on having their voice heard.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be one of the speakers at the DOJ/USDA antitrust workshop March 12 in Ankeny (Photo: usda.gov).
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Justice have jointly scheduled a series of workshops for dialogue on the issues and concerns facing agriculture. The first of those meetings is scheduled for March 12 in Ankeny, and will reportedly focus on competition in the seed industry as well as serve as an introduction to the entire series of meetings.

As Bill Bishop of The Daily Yonder notes, despite the DOJ’s calls for input from farmers and ranchers, only one out of more than 20 scheduled speakers at the Ankeny event is a person who makes his living on the land. There is a brief period at the end of the discussions that has been set aside for comments from those remaining in the audience.

In response, a coalition of local, state and national community, consumer, farmer and labor organizations are holding their own townhall meeting on Thursday, March 11, at the Best Western Hotel in Ankeny.

“The corporate control of our food system by multinationals like Cargill, Monsanto and Wal-Mart is devastating to consumers, farmers, workers and the environment,” said Barb Kalbach, a fourth-generation family farmer from Dexter and member of one of the coalition groups, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.

The groups coming together believe that decades of bad farm policy and unchecked corporate mergers have driven independent family farmers out of business and created powerful corporate factory farms and agribusiness giants that dominate the market. Current statistics such as 85 percent of all U.S. beef being slaughtered by four companies, half of all U.S. corn seed being controlled by two companies and 40 percent of the nation’s fluid milk supply being in the hands of one company appear to support the coalition’s concerns.

“After years of ignoring the corporate concentration and lack of competition in our food system, the DOJ and the USDA are finally admitting that there might be a problem,” said Dave Murphy of Clear Lake and affiliated with Food Democracy Now. “Unfortunately, family farmers, consumer advocates, and organized labor are underrepresented on the panels at the DOJ/USDA anti-trust workshop. This grassroots townhall meeting is essential to ensure that the voices of people most affected by this problem are heard loud and clear.”Only one out of 23 speakers at DOJ/USDA event earns a living growing crops or raising... more

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Draft Mellencamp for Senate: Outside vibe in politics

(In the interest of Full disclosure this article does feature an interview from me. It... more

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The Drivers Of Tropical Deforestation Are Changing

A shift from poverty-driven to industry-driven deforestation threatens the... more

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ISAAA figures show reduced GM crops in 7 countries

watch.eu/latest-listing/1-news-items/11971-isaaa-figures-show-reduced-gm-crops-in-7-cou... more

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libertyhemp 4 California Assembly 10th District 2010

Dear Voter, Here are some suggestions to help us be more prosperous and free.

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Brazilian farmers declare war on Monsanto

• In Cuiaba, Aprosoja is preparing a court action against Monsanto, and in Sinop, steps are being taken to follow suit

[English translation courtesy Cert ID Brazil and GM-free Ireland]

Growers in [the Brazilian State of] Mato Grosso have declared war against Monsanto, the multinational corporate owner of the GMO soya technology known as RR (Roundup Ready). After exhausting all attempts to engage the company in dialogue, the growers are now considering legal action. In Cuiaba, Aprosoja (the Association of Soya and Corn Producers Association of the State of Mato Grosso) is preparing a lawsuit. In Sinop (500km North of Cuiaba) the growers are looking to sue the company as well.

Aprosoya wants to determine if the [patent] royalty fee paid by the soya growers is actualy due. "We want to know what sort of patent is generating this type of fee, because depending on the type, the company does not have the right to charge us anything at all. We also need to know the patent's validity period," explains the President of Aprosoja, Mr. Glauber Silveira.

In Mato Grosso, growers increased the cultivated area of GMOs from 2.6 million hectares (2008/09 crop) to approximately 3 million hectares in this year's crop. The expansion of the area will increase Monsanto's profit from R$39 million (€15.2m) to R$45 million (€15.6m), an increase of 15.38%. According to calculations made by the producers, the fee Monanto charged for the use of its patent amounts to R$15.00 (€5.85) per hectare.

Aprosoja intends to issue a notification demanding that Monsanto provide proper justification regarding the royalty fees. "We have been informed that Monsanto is inducing the seed producers of Mato Grosso to provide only GMO seeds", denounces Mr. Silveira. In Mato Grosso the GMO plantation now occupies half of the entire cultivated area of soya, comprising about 6 million hectares.

SINOP - Following several meetings without any positive results, the Sinop Rural Union is also planning to sue Monsanto. Approximately 50% of the crop fields in the Northern Region of Mato Grosso are currently cultivated with GMO varieties. These differ from the conventional because of their resistance to herbicides containing glyphosate, used in desiccation before and after planting to eliminate all kinds of weeds.

This kind of resistance enables the growers to apply the herbicide on the soya only, thus reducing their production costs and the number of herbicide applications. But the sectors' questions concern the royalty fees imposed by Monsanto for their use of the seed.

The president of the Union, Mr. Antônio Galvan, explained that two collections are made: The first one being when the seed is bought (by bank order). "In January they charged R$0.45 per kilo of seed, which is equivalent to 30% of the price of each sack.

The main questioning lies on the second collection which is made when the product is leaving the fields. When it arrives at the warehouses the grain is tested and identified as GMO or non-GMO. The problem occurs when, in many cases, conventional oleaginous seeds are contaminated and the growers end up having to pay royalties without having acquired any GMO seeds in the first place.• In Cuiaba, Aprosoja is preparing a court action against Monsanto, and in Sinop,... more

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Bayer must pay $1.5 m to AK ,MS, rice farmers for GMO contamination

A federal court jury has ordered the German conglomerate Bayer CropScience to pay $1.5... more

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Cancer and pesticides: the legal floodgates have opened

After long battles, three farmers in France have won legal claims that their cases of cancer and Parkinson's disease were caused by working with pesticides. Now they want to help others fight similar cases
Paul François says he is lucky to be alive. In April 2004, he went to clean out what he thought was the empty tank in his agricultural spraying machine. When he opened the cap, noxious fumes of some remaining pesticides escaped. He was not wearing a mask and therefore breathed in a lungful. Immediately admitted to hospital, he fell into a coma.

Since then his illness continues to affect his kidneys and nervous system and he has again fallen into comas on several occasions. Today, he is working on his case against Monsanto, the company that produced Lasso, the culprit pesticide that was taken off the market in 2007.

The victims

Paul told his story at the first meeting of a network of 'pesticide victims' in a small hotel near his farm in Poitiers. The 40 participants had gathered to work out how they could help each other, and what could be done to protect the health of others.

One of the difficulties in putting together a strong legal case - against either a pesticide company or the French authorities - is finding clear evidence from scientific studies and asking doctors to make the link between exposure to pesticides and a medical condition. François told the meeting that medical professionals had often turned him away:
'They tell me: "Go home, you are depressed because you are ill",' he said.

Agricultural worker, Gilbert Vende in Bourges was luckier - at least from the perspective of finding a more helpful medical professional. In 2001, after being drenched with gouache used to protect seeds in autumn, he suffered serious breathing problems. A year later, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. His doctor gave him a letter linking his condition to exposure to 'pesticides, insecticides, fungicides et gouache'. But even with this document, it took extraordinary diligence to win his case in October 2005 when he became the first person in France to have Parkinson's recognised as an occupational disease. He is now embarked on helping others.

Gathering evidence

Two other agriculturalists in France have won recognition for the link between pesticides and their leukaemia. Even before Vende won his case, Dominque Marchal, a cereal farmer in the Vosges became the first person in France to win recognition that his leukaemia was work-related. When he first became ill, his wife suspected that his daily pesticide spraying on their 100,000 hectare farm might be the cause. But when they talked to the medical authorities about this idea, they were treated with such 'scorn' that it made Madame Marchal determined to fight.

She employed a lawyer to help her gather the scientific evidence and herself set about gathering invoices and receipts to list which pesticides her husband had been using in previous years. Then, from their own pesticide stocks and with the help of neighbouring farms, she was able to gather samples of each of the potential cancer-causing substances. Her lawyer helped her find a laboratory willing to analyse the contents, and when the results came back they showed that 40 per cent contained benzene, a substance not marked on any of the contents labels but that is known to increase the risk of leukaemia.

Since the Marchals' success, other farmers and agricultural workers with cancers such as myeloma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are trying to gain recognition and compensation for their conditions. A second person in France had his Parkinson's disease recognised as an occupational disease in October 2009.After long battles, three farmers in France have won legal claims that their cases of... more

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Old Joe Meek Stumbles Upon a Naked Protest

Right in the heart of Mexico City, twice a day, farmers from all over Mexico protest... more

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Treeless paper made from elephant poop? (video)

"In Sri Lanka, the relationship between the local farmers and the indigenous... more

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Broken harvest- the California water crisis

Farmers are feeling the effects while politicians play politics. I can't even... more

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2 years ago
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Monsanto's Ironclad Contract-In Fear of the Dotted Line

There is little doubt that Monsanto-farmer contracts are fundamentally unfair to the... more

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Project Locavore

KrisCan explores the relationship between Peak Oil and food security & eating... more

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Seed Deals Show Clout Monsanto Wields over U.S. Supply

St. Louis, Mo. -

'Confidential contracts detailing Monsanto Co.'s business practices reveal how the seed giant is squeezing competitors, controlling smaller companies and protecting its dominance over the multibillion-dollar market for genetically altered crops, an Associated Press investigation has found.

Monsanto's patented genes are inserted into roughly 95 percent of all soybeans and 80 percent of all corn grown in the United States.

The company also is using its wide reach to control the ability of new biotech firms to get wide distribution for their products, according to a review of several Monsanto licensing agreements and dozens of interviews with seed industry participants and agriculture and legal experts.

Declining competition in the seed business could lead to price increases that ripple out to every family's dinner table. That's because the cornflakes you had for breakfast, soda you drank at lunch and beef stew you ate for dinner most likely were produced from crops grown with Monsanto's patented genes.

Monsanto's methods are spelled out in a series of confidential licensing agreements obtained by the AP. The contracts include basic terms for the selling of engineered crops resistant to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, along with supplementary agreements that address new Monsanto traits or other contract amendments.

The company has used the agreements to spread its technology - giving some 200 smaller companies the right to insert Monsanto's genes into their separate strains of corn and soybean plants. But, the AP found, access to Monsanto's genes comes at a cost and with plenty of strings attached.

For example, one contract provision bans independent companies from breeding plants that contain both Monsanto's genes and the genes of any of its competitors, unless Monsanto gives prior written permission.

That gives Monsanto the ability to effectively lock out competitors from inserting their patented traits into the vast share of U.S. crops that already contain Monsanto's genes.

The U.S. Department of Justice and at least two state attorneys general are trying to determine whether Monsanto's business strategies and licensing agreements violate U.S. antitrust laws. The practices also are at the heart of civil antitrust lawsuits filed against the suburban St. Louis company by its competitors.'

Continued at link...St. Louis, Mo. - 'Confidential contracts detailing Monsanto Co.'s... more

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2 years ago
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A Traceability Solution

Since the FDA has its traceability meeting today and tomorrow, this article is very... more

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2 years ago
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Fair Food: Field to Table - Part 1

From the Fair Food Project: FARMWORKERS TODAY: Approximately 2-3 million farmworkers... more

SeaJade
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2 years ago
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Michael Pollan: Help protect our farmers from assaults by Monsanto

Save our seeds.

JanforGore
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Sweet Success

Consumer demand for organic, fair trade chocolate is helping to revive an entire... more

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2 years ago
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