percy schmeiser in
his fields in saskatchewan, canada. © percy
schmeiser
“
I've
been using my own seed for years, and now
farmers like me are being told we can't do
that anymore if our neighbors are growing
(genetically modified) crops that blow in.
[…] Basically, the right to use our own
seed has been taken away.”
Percy
Schmeiser, Canadian farmer.
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The customary right of farmers to save,
use and exchange their seeds and other
planting material is one of the
cornerstones of agricultural practices.
Traditionally, farmers have saved their
best seeds and used them the following
year. Now seed companies sell genetically
modified seeds to many farmers, but with
the agreement that they will only be used
for one season. This means that farmers are
forced to buy the company's seed each
year.
US biotech giant Monsanto is suing US
and Canadian farmers for saving their seeds
and breaching patent rights. But even
farmers who never bought GM seed are at
risk of losing their rights to their own
seeds due to genetic contamination.
Monsanto is suing farmers whose fields have
been contaminated by their patented GM
varieties, despite the fact that those
farmers never voluntarily grew GM crops.
The case of Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser
is the perfect illustration of the new
threats that GM crops pose to the
livelihoods of farmers all over the
world.
testimony by percy schmeiser
about his fight against
monsanto
“My name is Percy Schmeiser. I am a
Canadian farmer. For the last 50 years, my
wife Louisa and I have farmed 1441 acres in
Bruno , Saskatchewan . We have built up a
farm that works well. Rapeseed is an
important crop for us, and we used to sell
it all over the world for cooking oil and
cattle feed. Like most farmers in Western
Canada , I collected and stored my own
seed. After years of selection, I had a
variety that gave a good yield, was quite
resistant to local diseases and was
relatively weed free.
In 1997, I sprayed Roundup as usual on
the weeds and stray rapeseed plants growing
around my fields. I was surprised that so
much rapeseed survived the application. Had
I got the herbicide concentration wrong? I
now realize this was the first sign that my
fields had been contaminated by genetically
modified (GM) rapeseed.
My neighbors and 40 percent of farmers
in Western Canada plant GM rapeseed. Since
1993, Monsanto Canada has been licensed to
use technology that will make plants
resistant to its glyphosate herbicide,
Roundup. Farmers can then use Roundup as a
broad-spectrum herbicide without damaging
their GM crop. In 1995, Canada approved the
uncontained release of GM rapeseed, and in
1996 local companies started selling GM
varieties.
Although Monsanto owns the gene and the
technical know-how, they did little to
contain their invention once it entered the
environment. In 1998, Monsanto inspectors
entered my land without permission and took
rapeseed. They accused me of planting GM
rapeseed without a license and prosecuted
me. If Monsanto suspect farmers are growing
GM rapeseed without a license, they take
away rapeseed plants for inspection. If
test results are positive and the license
fee of Canadian $15 per acre and contract
have not been met, legal proceeding for
infringing Monsanto's patent follow.
In my case, GM plants had seeded
themselves on my land and they pollinated
my conventional rapeseed. The following
planting season I tried to contain GM
contamination by buying new seed, but 20
percent of my harvest was still
contaminated.
In Canada there is no law against
carrying rapeseed in open trucks or leaving
cut rapeseed in the field. This makes it
easy for the small seeds to spread. It is
also impossible to contain pollen flows.
The gene responsible for glyphosate
resistance is a dominant gene and rapeseed
is an open-pollinated plant. When a GM
plant crosses with conventional rapeseed,
resistance will be carried into the
following generation. In my fields the GM
variety was thickest along the roadway.
There was little in the field itself. When
I received the court summons I wondered why
anyone would think I had deliberately mixed
GM rapeseed with my own seed. The only
advantage of growing GM rapeseed is its
resistance to Roundup.
If farmers spray Roundup on a mixed GM
and non-GM crop they can expect big losses.
In my defense I argue that possessing the
seed does not violate Monsanto's patent. It
becomes a violation when I spray my crop
with Roundup and activate the innovation -
the gene that confers glyphosate
resistance.
When this gene incorporates itself into
a seed or plant, what are Monsanto's
rights? The seed and plants are the
farmer's property. GM rapeseed has the
ability to intrude where it was not
planted. It has the unique ability to
replicate itself. I believe Monsanto lost
its right to exclusivity when it lost
control of its invention. How can farmers
avoid GM rapeseed getting into their crops
and becoming a contaminating weed?”
organic farmers sue big
corporations
“Since wheat is the cornerstone of
prairie agriculture, and essential for
organic crop rotations, losing wheat to
genetic contamination would devastate
organic farming in Saskatchewan . […] We
feel we have no choice left but to pursue
legal action. This is a matter of survival
for organic agriculture in Saskatchewan
.”
Arnold Taylor, President of the
Saskatchewan Organic Directorate.
Organic farmers' communities in Canada
are fighting against the genetic
contamination of their organic crops. In
January 2002, two organic farmers from
Saskatchewan filed a class action lawsuit
against biotech giants Monsanto and Aventis
on behalf of all certified organic farmers
in Saskatchewan . The aim of the suit was
to obtain compensation for damages caused
by the introduction of Aventis' and
Monsanto's GM canola, and an injunction
that prevents the introduction of Monsanto
GM wheat in Saskatchewan . The suit also
aims to make the companies liable for
genetic contamination as well as trespass,
negligence, and environmental
pollution.
more information:
Percy Schmeiser's website
:
www.percyschmeiser.com
Saskatchewan Organic Directorate:
www.saskorganic.com
