Last week’s order by a U.S. District Judge in Kansas City, Kan., to appoint a plaintiffs’ settlement negotiating committee is an encouraging sign for New York State corn farmers who are suing Syngenta AG, a Swiss agrochemical company accused of misleading marketing tactics.
Justice John W. Lungstrum, in an Aug. 8 ruling, appointed a team of attorneys to work with Special Master of Settlement for Ellen K. Reisman “toward a fair and expeditious resolution” of several lawsuits filed against Syngenta in connection with its rollout of the Agisure Viptera corn seed in 2010.
Reisman is a partner in Reisman Karron Green LLP based in Washington, D.C.
Litigants contend that Syngenta failed to get approval from China to distribute the seed, which was found to have contained a seed trait (MIR 162 GMO) that the Chinese deemed unacceptable.
In 2013, China embargoed all U.S. corn and, as a result, corn prices declined sharply and American corn producers suffered extensive monetary losses.
Attorney M. Scott Barrett of Bloomington, Ind., who is representing farmers in the Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming region, said the judge’s order to form a settlement negotiating committee could mean that good news is forthcoming for his clients.
“We’re hoping that this would be settled by Sept. 11 (the date that a Minnesota class trial is scheduled to begin),” said Barrett, an Albion native. “With that being said, it’s still not too late for (New York) farmers to get in. If they wait to the last minute, they possibly will be unable to participate.”
Barrett said the lawsuit is open to all corn producers who grew and sold corn for market at any time after 2012, and not just those who purchased and/or used the Syngenta seed.
He and attorneys Conrad Cropsey, of Albion, Ken Walsh, of Mount Kisco, and John Jernigan, of Brewton, Ala., are representing New York farmers. Jernigan and Barrett were in the area last week, meeting with some of their clients.
One of those is Joe Tuchrello, of Tuchrello Farms in Livingston County, a longtime farmer of various crops, including potatoes, soybeans and corn.
“I’m not crazy about losing $100,000 a year,” said Tuchrello, who at 83 years of age continues to work every day. “Whatever we can get will be a godsend.”
“I have never seen the likes of what we have gone through,” he said, noting that the price of corn dropped from around $8 per bushel to $3.50.
Syngenta was acquired by China National Chemical Corp. in June for $43 billion.
Lawyers for Syngenta contend that the company did not do anything wrong because the seed wasn’t sold until U.S. approval was obtained, and that it didn’t need China’s approval. However, a test-case trial in Kansas ended with a jury verdict of $217 million in favor of the certified class of Kansas corn farmers and a test case trial in Minneapolis was settled out of court before it began.
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In photo at top, attorneys M. Scott Barrett, left, and John Jernigan, in front of cornfield in Caledonia. For more information about the litigation, contact Conrad Cropsey at 585-589-9400.
