Drive down Interstate 80 and as you wind through the Great American Mid-West you will see signs that declare “Nebraska …the good life, Home of Arbor Day.” If you pull off the Interstate and explore the many small towns which dot this beautiful and bountiful landscape you will understand this sense of pride in state, life style and growing from the land. The early settlers found harsh conditions in a virgin land untouched by the hand of westerners. A land where Native Americans roamed the plains and harsh weather was just a breath away. Yet those early pioneers preserved and clung to the land while explorers crossed on wagon trains only stopping to water teams of oxen or rest their horses. The gold fields and prosperity of the west lured travelers on with a sweet siren’s song that whispered of a better life beyond.
But in Nebraska, those early pioneers stayed and watched others merely travel through this great land. Today the past lives on, as small town America lives on in the heartland, while busy travelers traverse I-80 headed elsewhere. But with “the good life” at your door step there is no need to travel farther than your front porch to find peace and beauty. The Nebraskan sense of pride that comes from working the land and being a part of the land isn’t just a slogan, but a way of life.
There are many natural threats to the Nebraska farmers’ way of life. Just like those early settlers who fought many obstacles to hold onto a piece of the earth they could pass on to the next generation, today’s family farmer continues that battle. There are rootworms, corn borers, and all manner of flying pests. The family farmer faces unpredictable weather and storms that threaten their livelihood. However, not all threats to the farm are natural. A reckless company bent on putting its own profits above the needs of its customers can do more damage than any pest or storm.
In 2013 and 2014 America’s number three trading partner in corn imports, China, repeatedly rejected shipments of American corn, and eventually banned all import of American corn. The reason was that the U.S. corn supply, the entire corn supply, contained an unapproved genetically modified trait produced by Syngenta. Syngenta sold its unapproved GMO corn seed to less than 3% of American corn farmers but that was enough to contaminate the entire domestic corn supply.
Why would Syngenta risk the American corn farmers’ ability to market their corn to the third largest buyer of American corn? Why would Syngenta jeopardize the price of this commodity, a commodity upon which hundreds of thousands of American family farms depend? The answer is simple: Money.
Syngenta knew it was illegal for their unapproved GMO traits to be brought into China. Syngenta had in fact, applied for approval for its traits to be allowed into China. Rather than wait for the legal approval of their application, Syngenta placed its unapproved traits into the American marketplace and thus put the American family farmer at risk of not being able to sell to the third largest importer. Had Syngenta waited to sell its seed until December 2014, when China approved Syngenta’s application, no American corn would have been contaminated or rejected for export. Syngenta jumped the gun and placed their own financial interest in selling seeds, above the interest of their customers and all other American corn growers. This kind of shortsighted business practice of looking to short-term profits over the long-term interest of the customer never pays off.
The Nebraska State Moto is ‘Equality Before the Law.’ Those early pioneers and settlers understood that to hold onto their land and keep the farm in the family and the family in the farm, they needed a system of laws and justice. Just because a foreign seed company, from Switzerland, worth 32 billion dollars decides to gamble with your corn price and your ability to make a profit, does not mean they can get away with it. No matter how big they think they are, in Nebraska and across the great American Mid-West, the small family farmer and the multi-billion dollar multi-national foreign corporation are still ‘Equal Before the Law.’ But Syngenta isn’t going to voluntarily pay the family farmer for their losses. If you want Syngenta to be held ‘equal before the law,’ you have to live up to the State motto of Nebraska and file a claim, as that is the only way to get yourself, your family, and your farm: “Equality Before the Law.”
Written by:
Jon Givens
Watts Guerra LLP
4 Dominion Drive, Bldg. 3, Suite 100
San Antonio, Texas 78257
Phone (210) 447-0500
© Watts Guerra LLP 2015
