DuPont Sends in Former Cops to Enforce Seed Patents: Commodities
By Jack Kaskey - Nov 28, 2012 1:14 PM PT
DuPont Co. (DD), the world?s second- biggest seed company, is sending dozens of former police officers across North America to prevent a practice generations of farmers once took for granted.
The provider of the best-selling genetically modified soybean seed is looking for evidence of farmers illegally saving them from harvests for replanting next season, which is not allowed under sales contracts. The Wilmington, Delaware-based company is inspecting Canadian fields and will begin in the U.S. next year, said Randy Schlatter, a DuPont senior manager.
DuPont is protecting its sales of Roundup Ready soybeans, so called because they tolerate being sprayed by Monsanto Co.?s Roundup herbicide.
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?Farmers are never going to get cheap access to these genetically engineered varieties,? said Charles Benbrook, a research professor at Washington State University?s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources. ?The biotech industry has trumped the legitimate economic interests of the farmer again by raising the ante on intellectual property.? ...
