Metropolis farmer ordered to pay for replanting beans

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- A federal jury here has ordered a Massac County farmer to pay St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. $16,000 in damages for replanting some genetically engineered soybeans.

Eugene Stratemeyer said he didn't know he was in trouble with the agribusiness giant until U.S. marshals showed up at his farm near Metropolis two years ago and confiscated his soybean seeds.

The ensuing legal battle in U.S. District Court pitted biotechnology law against time-honored farming practices.

Even though the verdict went against Stratemeyer, his lawyer, Ronald E. Osman, said it still was a victory because the damages awarded were so much less than Monsanto's request of damages in excess of $800,000.

U.S. District Judge Michael Reagan will determine final damages later this month.

Monsanto obtained an injunction against Stratemeyer after determining that he had saved Roundup Ready soybeans, a genetically engineered soybean resistant to the herbicide Roundup, to replant the next year.

"I didn't know about this at all," Stratemeyer said. "I found out I couldn't replant my own seeds when the marshals showed up on my land and seized my soybeans. The first time I became aware of this was right then when I found out about the lawsuit."

Under a technology user's agreement farmers are supposed to sign when they buy the seed, they are barred from saving seed for replanting or sale to other farmers.

But Stratemeyer, in a countersuit, claimed he never signed such an agreement.

The federal jury found last week that Stratemeyer violated the agreement with Monsanto when he saved and sold the soybeans.