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  • From: KAKerby AT aol.com
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Fwd: [sno-valley-tilth] Organic Veg Farmers whouse Semin
  • Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:06:15 EDT

You know, I've wondered about that whole "right to enter a farm to test for contamination" issue.  There is no precedent that I know of in patent law, or even in cases of outright theft, which gives the owner of supposedly stolen property (in this case, Monsanto) the right to forcibly enter a privately owned premises and search for that material.  The only individuals with that right according to Constitutional law would be law enforcement officials with a valid warrant.  Granted, I'm just a dumb dirt farmer rather than an attorney, so maybe there's some loophole they're exploiting.  Nevertheless, every case I've ever read (and it's only been a handful), the farmers ALLOWED Monsanto staff onto their property, or those people entered without permission.  While I hope to never be in this position, I wonder what would happen if those Monsanto folks were met at the gate and denied entry.  Would they try to force their way in?  Or have these weasels simply talked their way in with a combination of guile and guilt??  I've repeatedly heard the comment from indignant growers that they'd meet such parties at the gate with a shotgun.  But one of the more insightful comments came from my hog mentor, who simply said he'd be very pleasant at the gate, but have his videocamera rolling in one hand, and his attorney on his cellphone in the other hand.  Does anyone know of forced entry and whether that survived a trip through the legal process?
Kathryn Kerby
Frog Chorus Farm
Snohomish, WA
 
In a message dated 3/17/2010 10:38:09 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, ryan AT bootstrapacres.com writes:
Are you sure Monsanto hasn't patented genes from non-GMOs?

Ryan Platte
Bootstrap Acres, Rochester NY
http://bootstrapacres.com/


On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 1:32 PM, William H Shoemaker <wshoemak AT illinois.edu> wrote:
I would like to see that tested in court. Its one thing to prevent someone from saving seed of a variety that has a patented gene in it. There is a long history and, I believe, court precedence for protection, of saving seed of hybrids that do not have patented genes.



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