http://www.belleville.com/mld/newsdemocrat/news/4639729.htm
Belleville News-Democrat  Tuesday, Dec 03, 2002

by BETH HUNDSDORFER-GANSMANN

Company forbids saving its seeds

A Southern Illinois farmer discovered he was in trouble with agribusiness
giant Monsanto when U.S. marshals showed up at his Metropolis farm and
confiscated his soybean seeds.

That was the beginning of a two-year legal battle in U.S. District Court
in East St. Louis, waging technology against time-honored farming
practices.

Monsanto obtained an injunction against farmer Eugene Stratemeyer after
they determined he saved Roundup Ready soybeans, a genetically engineered
soybean that is resistant to the herbicide Roundup, to replant the next
year.

"I didn't know about this at all. I found out I couldn't replant my own
seeds when the marshals showed up on my land and seized my soybeans,"
Stratemeyer said.  "The first time I became aware of this was right then
when I found out about the lawsuit."

Under a technology user's agreement farmers are supposed to sign when they
purchase the seed, they are prohibited from saving seed for replanting or
sale to other farmers.

But Stratemeyer, in a countersuit, claims he never signed such an
agreement.

The battle ended last week when a federal jury found Stratemeyer violated
such an agreement with Monsanto when he saved and sold Monsanto's
soybeans.

The genetically engineered soybean, which was introduced in 1996, won't
die when exposed to Roundup herbicide, allowing farmers to spray the
entire field, making soybean farming cheaper and less labor-intensive.

Monsanto sued the prominent Southern Illinois farmer to protect its patent
on the technology, Monsanto spokesman Janice Armstrong said, and to ensure
all farmers using Monsanto seeds are playing by the same rules.

But Stratemeyer contends the contract bans a traditional farming practice
of saving seeds from the harvest for replanting next year, and they
singled him out because of his stature in the community.

"I definitely feel that they went after me because I was a prominent
farmer.  They turned me into the proverbial sacrificial lamb,"
Stratemeyer said. "I was just a country boy and not familiar with the
court system, but I didn't feel this was right."

Jurors in East St. Louis awarded Monsanto about $16,000 in damages, plus
attorneys' fees and costs. However, the damage award is subject to a
federal judge's review and could go up or down.

Even though the verdict went against Stratemeyer, his lawyer, Ronald E.
Osman, said it still was a victory because the damages awarded were so
much less than Monsanto's request of damages in excess of $800,000.

Testimony during the trial revealed seed dealers commonly sign farmers'
names to the seed contracts, or receipts.

Osman has filed a class-action suit against the seed dealers for forging
farmers' names on the contracts. The suit maintains that seed dealers are
agents representing the company.

"We took this thing to trial to expose the forgery on the part of
Monsanto's agents,"  Osman said.  "This is about forgery, plain and
simple."

Monsanto denied the seed dealers operate as their agents -- dealers merely
distribute the seed, Armstrong said.

The jury refused to award damages to Monsanto for the period before it
filed suit against Stratemeyer.

"They didn't award any damages for 1999 and 2000 because of the actions of
their agents, the seed dealers," Osman said.

Osman, who defended Stratemeyer for free and farms in Southern Illinois,
said the case was important because it demonstrated the conflict between
big corporations and farming.

"Stratemeyer didn't ask for this fight, but he's a hard-headed Dutchman
who was willing to stand up against Monsanto," Osman said.

The class-action suit filed by Osman still is pending in federal court in
East St. Louis.

U.S. District Judge Michael Reagan will determine final damages in the
case later this year.


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