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Answers

Question

What do yo do when GMO seed gets blown on to a farm where the farmer was using non-GMO seed. The famers crop is then infected by GMO seed, what recourse will you pursue?

Also how can you prevent this from ocurring?

Submitted by: trustskinnychefs


Answer

Expert response from Kelly Clauss

Global Communications Strategy Lead, IT, Bayer Crop Science

Monday, 14/10/2013 13:14

In the situation that you described, we would not take any legal action. In fact, we have a long-standing public commitment that “it has never been, nor will it be, Monsanto’s policy to exercise its patent rights where trace amounts of our patented seeds or traits are present in a farmer’s fields as a result of inadvertent means.”

 

In reality, farmers have been successfully growing conventional, organic and GM crops―sometimes even on the same farm―for years through good communication, cooperation, flexibility and mutual respect for each other’s practices and requirements. Since coexistence strategies can be different depending on the crops and practices used, experts recommend that neighbors work together to develop coexistence plans on a case-by-case basis.

 

Since the beginning of the federal National Organic Program (NOP), I am not aware of any certified organic farm that has lost its USDA certification due to accidental mixing with GM seed.