Monsanto Shifts ALL Liability to Farmers/Growers of GMO Crops

Farmers like genetically modified (GM) crops because they can plant them, spray them with herbicide and then there is very little maintenance until harvest. Farmers who plant Monsanto's GM crops probably don't realize what they bargain for when they sign the Monsanto Technology Stewardship Agreement contract.

One farmer reportedly 'went crazy' when he discovered the scope of the contract because it transfers ALL liability to the farmer or grower.

Here is the paragraph that defines Monsanto's limit of liability that shifts it to the farmer/grower:

"GROWER'S EXCLUSIVE LIMITED REMEDY: THE EXCLUSIVE REMEDY OF THE GROWER AND THE LIMIT OF THE LIABILITY OF MONSANTO OR ANY SELLER FOR ANY AND ALL LOSSES, INJURY OR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OR HANDLING OF SEED (INCLUDING CLAIMS BASED IN CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, PRODUCT LIABILITY, STRICT LIABILITY, TORT, OR OTHERWISE) SHALL BE THE PRICE PAID BY THE GROWER FOR THE QUANTITY OF THE SEED INVOLVED OR, AT THE ELECTION OF MONSANTO OR THE SEED SELLER, THE REPLACEMENT OF THE SEED. IN NO EVENT SHALL MONSANTO OR ANY SELLER BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES."

This includes contamination of other farms. Growers are purchasing seed for Spring planting right now. Alfalfa, America's 4th largest crop, is a particular problem because it is a perennial plant and the seeds may lie dormant in the ground for 10-20 years, and WILL contaminate non-GM plants. Contaminated alfalfa cannot be recalled from the environment. The liability burden can follow the grower for decades. Farmers must be made aware of the danger of being sued before they plant GM crops (especially alfalfa because it is used for cattle feed and will affect dairy farmers).

Currently, Australian organic farmer Steve Marsh, who lost his organic certification due to contamination, is suing his GM crop-growing neighbor for the GM contamination.
Contamination of processing equipment is another risk.

There is evidence from India that GM crops are linked to livestock deaths. The Monsanto Technology Stewardship Agreement contract holds growers responsible for injuries, so this is another potential consequence for farmers planting Monsanto GM crops to consider.

The Monsanto Technology Stewardship Agreement has another clause that farmers will find disturbing: it appears that the growers agree that in order to sell their farm, the new purchaser must also sign a Monsanto Technology Stewardship Agreement. According to a top real estate broker, the contract places a covenant, condition or restriction (CCR) on the farmer's land:

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Excerpts from BLN 02-21-11

Global Bio-Tech Crops Increase 10%

From Food Navigator - Global area planted with biotech crops increased by 10 percent last year to reach 148m hectares, making it the fastest adopted crop technology in the history of modern agriculture, according to a new analysis.

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), a non-profit organization which promotes the adoption of biotech crops, said in its new report that the United States still uses more genetically modified (GM) seeds than any other country, but Brazil had the largest increase for the second year running, with area planted to biotech crops rising 19 percent in 2010.

Commercial planting of GM crops began in 1996, with 1.7m hectares planted that year, and over 15 years of cultivation, the total area devoted to GM crops increased 87-fold, to reach 148m hectares in 2010. ISAAA said that adoption rates in developing nations exceeded those in industrialized countries last year and it expects the trend to continue.

“Developing countries grew 48 percent of global biotech crops in 2010 and will exceed industrialized nations in their plantings of biotech crops by 2015,” said ISAAA chairman and founder Clive James. “Clearly, the countries of Latin America and Asia will drive the most dramatic increases in global hectares planted to biotech crops during the remainder of the technology’s second decade of commercialization.”

Nineteen of the 29 countries that have adopted biotech crops are developing  nations, where area devoted to biotech crops grew at a rate of 17 percent over 2009, the report said, compared to five percent growth in industrialized countries.
For the first time, the top ten biotech-growing countries all planted more than one million hectares of GM crops in 2010. They were the United States, which planted 66.8m hectares, Brazil (25.4), Argentina (22.9), India (9.4), Canada (8.8), China (3.5), Paraguay (2.6), Pakistan (2.4), South Africa (2.2) and Uruguay (1.1), the report said.
The United States grows more varieties of GM crops than any other country, including maize, soybeans, cotton, canola, sugarbeet, alfalfa, papaya and squash.
The report is available online here .

Unarmed Greyhound Passengers "Frozen" During Bus Hijacking

Had there been several legally armed passengers on board I wonder how long it would have taken to put an end to this situation? Why should the passengers feel it necessary to ‘stand their frozen’ and afraid to move?

Instead of calling in TSA to perform invasive medical and rectal exams in the name of increasing security and public safety, why don’t we exercise a little common sense and train more citizens to defend themselves in public-attack situations?

WRAL.com - A gunman hijacked a Greyhound bus headed to Raleigh Thursday night, but all the passengers and driver managed to escape unharmed, authorities and witnesses said.

State troopers identified the suspect as Jose Flores, 32.

Vance County Sheriff Peter White said that a passenger from Arlington, Va., walked up to the front of bus no. 6516 along Interstate 85 South in Warren County. He asked the driver to be let off, then became irate and pulled out a gun, passengers said.

The man claimed he had a bomb and said, "If I don't get you with the gun, I will get you with the bag," White said. He ordered passengers to get off the bus, but most stood frozen.

…"He was just irate, (didn't) make no sense," said one passenger. "Nobody understood what was the purpose. He kept saying, 'I want to go to the courthouse, the nearest courthouse.'"
Passengers said they were nervous to continue on their trips with Greyhound.
"I still got a long way to go, and these people expect me to get on another bus. Would you get on another bus after you had a gun stuck to your head?"

A passenger, who was traveling to visit family in Florida, called for increased security measures on buses."Something's got to be done. I could have been dead tonight," he said. "Anybody could walk up on here on a Greyhound bus and have a gun on them and without checking nobody. It might slow things down, but this ain't right."

Original Source & Full Story on WRAL.com