{"id":6015,"date":"2018-05-07T15:03:48","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T20:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/?p=6015"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:23:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:23:56","slug":"syngenta-settlement-what-producers-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2018\/05\/07\/syngenta-settlement-what-producers-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Syngenta Settlement: What Producers Need To Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Disclaimer:\u00a0 This blog post offers only a summary of the detailed information included in the Proposed Settlement and Class Notice.\u00a0 Producers should review the official documents, which are linked below, for full details.<\/em><\/p>\n

The federal court handling lawsuits filed by farmers against Syngenta over genetically modified corn seed has granted preliminary approval to a proposed settlement agreement.\u00a0 [View Order here.<\/a>]\u00a0 This means that corn farmers meeting the requirements to be considered class members will soon receive notice in their mailbox and instructions on how to proceed.<\/p>\n

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Background<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2010, Syngenta released these seed varieties, which were approved in the United States, but not in China. \u00a0In 2013, US corn shipments arrived in China\u00a0and were rejected due to the presence of the MIR-162 trait found in Viptera and Duracade. \u00a0Shortly thereafter, US corn prices fell. \u00a0Farmers who did not plant the seeds have filed suit against Syngenta claiming that\u00a0Syngenta\u2019s\u00a0false assurances about imminent approval by the Chinese government constituted fraud and the rejection of corn by the Chinese caused the drop in the market, causing monetary damages to the farmers. \u00a0[For more background information, read\u00a0this fact sheet<\/a>\u00a0and view\u00a0this webinar<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of lawsuits were filed across the United States, and the vast majority were consolidated in \u201cMulti-District Litigation\u201d in the District of Kansas federal court. \u00a0In that MDL litigation, the plaintiffs sought to certify 21 classes of farmer plaintiffs, divided by state. \u00a0The following states were included in the list of proposed classes: \u00a0AL, AR, CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NE, ND, OH, OK, SD, TN, \u00a0TX, \u00a0and WI. \u00a0The specific legal claims made differ for each class. \u00a0All classes assert a negligence claim and certain states may have additional statutory claims based upon the law in that jurisdiction.\u00a0 Initially, the court heard class certification motions and certified 8 state classes: \u00a0AR, IL, IA, KS, MO, NE, OH, and SD. \u00a0The remaining proposed classes had not yet been considered for certification by the court.<\/p>\n

The first class action trial, that of a class of Kansas farmers, resulted in a $217 million verdict in June 2017.\u00a0 In September 2017, the parties announced they had reached a tentative settlement.\u00a0 A motion for preliminary settlement approval was filed by the parties earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The Proposed Settlement<\/strong><\/p>\n

The proposed settlement will require Syngenta to make a $1.51 billion settlement to the Class.\u00a0 The number of Class Members is said to be over 600,000 based on the Class Definition explained below.\u00a0 [View\u00a0Proposed Settlement here].<\/a><\/p>\n

Class Definition<\/em><\/p>\n

The Class Definition lays out exactly who is included as a class member.\u00a0 This is important because class members are those people who will receive settlement proceeds and they will also be barred from pursuing additional claims or litigation against Syngenta in this matter.<\/p>\n

The Proposed Settlement states that the class consists of any Person (including natural persons, corporations, LLCs, and other legal entities) in the US during the Class Period (9\/15\/13 – 4\/10\/18) who owned any interest in Corn in the US priced for sale during the Class Period and<\/span> who falls into one of the following four sub-classes:<\/p>\n