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Kansas Corn Farmers Awarded Nearly $218M In Suit Over GMO Corn

Farmers complained when China rejected shipments of U.S. corn after finding unapproved varieties.
File: Amy Mayer
/
Harvest Public Media
Farmers complained when China rejected shipments of U.S. corn after finding unapproved varieties.

This story was updated at 3:12 p.m.

A federal jury in Kansas City, Kansas, awarded nearly $218 million to Kansas corn farmers after finding seed giant Syngenta AG was negligent when it introduced strains of genetically engineered corn seed into the marketplace that were not approved for import by the Chinese government.  

The eight-member jury returned its $217,700,000 verdict after an 18-day-long trial, the first of eight certified class actions lawsuits against Syngenta brought in state court.

“We think the verdict shows that this jury wanted to send a very strong message to Syngenta,” says Patrick Stueve, a partner with Stueve Siegel Hanson, a Kansas City law firm representing farmer-plaintiffs in the case. That message, Stueve says, is that Syngenta should not put new genetically engineered seeds on the market until key export markets have approved them.

Switzerland-based Syngenta issued a statement saying it was disappointed with the verdict “because it will only serve to deny American farmers access to future technologies even when they are fully approved in the U.S.”

The case concerned Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera and Agrisure Duracade, corn seeds containing genetically engineered traits. Thousands of farmers sued the company after Chinese officials rejected grain shipments containing traces of the strains in 2013.

“The case is without merit and we will move forward with an appeal and continue to defend the rights of American farmers to access safe and effective U.S.-approved technologies,” Syngenta said.

China is a major importer of U.S. corn. Farmers claimed the loss of the Chinese market caused corn prices to plummet, resulting in total losses to them of more than $5 billion.

The jury awarded full compensatory damages, Stueve says, indicating jurors understood that “access to export markets is critical for farmers. It drives their prices higher.” The jury declined to award punitive damages.

Stueve says the judge is likely to rule soon on whether to group multiple state cases into one trial this winter or to let them proceed individually.

A separate but related case in Minnesota state court was set to begin in April but a mistrial was declared on the opening day and postponed until July 10.

Other class action cases in state court are pending in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota. Yet other lawsuits are waiting to be certified as class actions.

Dan Margolies is an editor at KCUR 89.3 in Kansas City.

Amy Mayer is a reporter with Harvest Public Media who is based in Ames, Iowa.

Copyright 2017 KCUR 89.3

Dan was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and moved to Kansas City with his family when he was eight years old. He majored in philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis and holds law and journalism degrees from Boston University. He has been an avid public radio listener for as long as he can remember – which these days isn’t very long… Dan has been a two-time finalist in The Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, and has won multiple regional awards for his legal and health care coverage. Dan doesn't have any hobbies as such, but devours one to three books a week, assiduously works The New York Times Crossword puzzle Thursdays through Sundays and, for physical exercise, tries to get in a couple of rounds of racquetball per week.
Amy Mayer is a reporter based in Ames. She covers agriculture and is part of the Harvest Public Media collaboration. Amy worked as an independent producer for many years and also previously had stints as weekend news host and reporter at WFCR in Amherst, Massachusetts and as a reporter and host/producer of a weekly call-in health show at KUAC in Fairbanks, Alaska. Amy’s work has earned awards from SPJ, the Alaska Press Club and the Massachusetts/Rhode Island AP. Her stories have aired on NPR news programs such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition and on Only A Game, Marketplace and Living on Earth. She produced the 2011 documentary Peace Corps Voices, which aired in over 160 communities across the country and has written for The New York Times, Boston Globe, Real Simple and other print outlets. Amy served on the board of directors of the Association of Independents in Radio from 2008-2015.