SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Genetically Modified Seed Giant DuPont to Unleash Seed Police
DuPont will use seed security firm to monitor if farmers have saved Roundup Ready soybeans
Nov 30, 2012
Agricultural behemoth and genetically modified seed maker Dupont is preparing to send out former police officers as "soybean police" to enforce its seed patents.
As Monsanto has done in the past, DuPont will be looking for evidence that farmers have saved and replanted its Roundup Ready soybean seeds, a practice that violates that company's contract.
Bloomberg reports that Dupont has hired Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Agro Protection International to do the policing, a company which conducts farm visits to determine "appropriate usage" of seeds and to create deterrence of illegally using their client's products, the company explains.
Critics see the move as more evidence of corporate control over agriculture.
"Farmers are never going to get cheap access to these genetically engineered varieties," Bloomberg quotes Charles Benbrook, a research professor at Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, as saying. "The biotech industry has trumped the legitimate economic interests of the farmer again by raising the ante on intellectual property."
And the Des Moines Register quotes George Nayor, who sued Monsanto in 1999 over use of genetically modified seeds.
"It's the same thing that Monsanto has been doing. A few people want to control all of agriculture," Nayor said of DuPont's policing.
The Des Moines Register explains why DuPont is now following the path of Monsanto in seed-policing:
Monsanto has sued to protect its Roundup Ready trait, which is widely licensed to DuPont Pioneer and other seed companies. The seed's DNA genetics have been modified to enable the soybean plant to thrive after Monsanto's Roundup herbicide has been applied.
But the patent for Roundup Ready expires next year.
DuPont Pioneer and other seed companies are thus left on their own to enforce other biotechnology or breeding patents that may be in a single soybean plant.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Agricultural behemoth and genetically modified seed maker Dupont is preparing to send out former police officers as "soybean police" to enforce its seed patents.
As Monsanto has done in the past, DuPont will be looking for evidence that farmers have saved and replanted its Roundup Ready soybean seeds, a practice that violates that company's contract.
Bloomberg reports that Dupont has hired Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Agro Protection International to do the policing, a company which conducts farm visits to determine "appropriate usage" of seeds and to create deterrence of illegally using their client's products, the company explains.
Critics see the move as more evidence of corporate control over agriculture.
"Farmers are never going to get cheap access to these genetically engineered varieties," Bloomberg quotes Charles Benbrook, a research professor at Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, as saying. "The biotech industry has trumped the legitimate economic interests of the farmer again by raising the ante on intellectual property."
And the Des Moines Register quotes George Nayor, who sued Monsanto in 1999 over use of genetically modified seeds.
"It's the same thing that Monsanto has been doing. A few people want to control all of agriculture," Nayor said of DuPont's policing.
The Des Moines Register explains why DuPont is now following the path of Monsanto in seed-policing:
Monsanto has sued to protect its Roundup Ready trait, which is widely licensed to DuPont Pioneer and other seed companies. The seed's DNA genetics have been modified to enable the soybean plant to thrive after Monsanto's Roundup herbicide has been applied.
But the patent for Roundup Ready expires next year.
DuPont Pioneer and other seed companies are thus left on their own to enforce other biotechnology or breeding patents that may be in a single soybean plant.
Agricultural behemoth and genetically modified seed maker Dupont is preparing to send out former police officers as "soybean police" to enforce its seed patents.
As Monsanto has done in the past, DuPont will be looking for evidence that farmers have saved and replanted its Roundup Ready soybean seeds, a practice that violates that company's contract.
Bloomberg reports that Dupont has hired Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Agro Protection International to do the policing, a company which conducts farm visits to determine "appropriate usage" of seeds and to create deterrence of illegally using their client's products, the company explains.
Critics see the move as more evidence of corporate control over agriculture.
"Farmers are never going to get cheap access to these genetically engineered varieties," Bloomberg quotes Charles Benbrook, a research professor at Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, as saying. "The biotech industry has trumped the legitimate economic interests of the farmer again by raising the ante on intellectual property."
And the Des Moines Register quotes George Nayor, who sued Monsanto in 1999 over use of genetically modified seeds.
"It's the same thing that Monsanto has been doing. A few people want to control all of agriculture," Nayor said of DuPont's policing.
The Des Moines Register explains why DuPont is now following the path of Monsanto in seed-policing:
Monsanto has sued to protect its Roundup Ready trait, which is widely licensed to DuPont Pioneer and other seed companies. The seed's DNA genetics have been modified to enable the soybean plant to thrive after Monsanto's Roundup herbicide has been applied.
But the patent for Roundup Ready expires next year.
DuPont Pioneer and other seed companies are thus left on their own to enforce other biotechnology or breeding patents that may be in a single soybean plant.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy