Syngenta settles Nebraska complaint, Minnesota trial next

by | Jul 11, 2017 | 5 Ag Stories, News

Syngenta reached a confidential settlement with a Nebraska farmer who claims the company mishandled marketing of its genetically modified seed, which in turn caused corn prices to plummet.

According to Bloomberg, a settlement heads off a trial that was to start this week. Terms of the settlement were not made public. It was just two weeks ago that Syngenta lost a jury verdict worth $218 million because of a class action suit brought by Kansas farmers alleging similar claims against the company. Syngenta will next face a class action suit, which starts in August, up in Minnesota.

Farmers there are seeking more than $600 million. The farmers allege that Syngenta rushed its seed into the marketplace before getting approval from China to export the grain over there. China stopped bringing in shipments of corn in 2013, calling the grain shipments contaminated by the GMO seed. The farmers say that set off a five-year depression in corn prices. They also say Syngenta misled them on when China would approve the seed for import. Syngenta disputes the damage claims, saying it did nothing wrong. The company says it didn?t sell the seed until approved in the U.S. and didn?t need China?s approval to do so.