Percy Schmeiser

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Percy Schmeiser is a Canadian farmer specializing in canola. In 1998, he devised a way to obtain and use Roundup Ready seeds (i.e. seeds genetically engineered to withstand sprayings with the herbicide glyphosate) without paying the legally required licensing fees. However, he was found out and sued for patent infingement by Monsanto. Despite two appeals, he lost in the Supreme Court of Canada.

Since then, he has become a celebrity in anti-GMO circles. He is falsely portrayed as an innocent, powerless farmer who lost the fight against a giant evil agrichemical corporation which sued him because his field was contaminated with GM seeds against his will. None of the elements of the anti-GMO story actually check out.

Contents

[edit] The actual dealings of Mr. Schmeiser

The real story of Mr. Schmeiser can be found in the court proceedings.[1] Following his normal farming practice, Schmeiser applied the Roundup herbicide around power poles and ditches in his field to kill weeds and volunteer plants. He noticed that some canola plants survived the spraying. He proceeded to spray the edge of one of his fields with Roundup. He then collected the seed from the surviving plants to a separate truck and used it to plant the next year's crop. This was detected by a private investigation agency hired by Monsanto to conduct random audits of farmers in the area. Samples taken from Schmeiser's field indicated that almost all of the canola was Roundup Ready. The court found that this constituted a patent violation and decided in favor of Monsanto. However, it declined to award punitive damages. Further counter-lawsuits by Schmeiser were either dismissed without a ruling or settled out of court.

[edit] Mythology

Schmeiser went on to become a poster child for the anti-GMO movement. He was the subject of the 2009 pseudo-documentary film "David versus Monsanto",[2] which presents his story in an extremely misleading way. For instance, it states that his field was contaminated with GM seeds against his will. This is impossible given that the GM seed content in the field was almost 100%, and contradicts his court testimony. It also claims that Schmeiser does not use Roundup, something he personally admitted doing in the court proceedings. In an amusing coda in 2014, Schmeiser noted in an interview that GMO canola is now being grown on his farm, by a tenant of his land[3]. Legally, presumably.

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

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