Percy Schmeiser

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Percy Schmeiser in January 2008

Percy Schmeiser (born January 5, 1931 - October 13, 2020 ) was a Canadian farmer and seed breeder from Bruno in the province of Saskatchewan . Genetically modified and patented rapeseed from the biochemical company Monsanto , which, according to Schmeiser, had never been sown by either of them, grew on his own conventional rapeseed fields and his wife Louise's organic rapeseed fields . Schmeiser killed the conventional plants with glyphosateand sowed the genetically modified rapeseed on several hundred hectares on his land again. As a result, he was sued by Monsanto for patent infringement. Together with his wife, he was awarded the Alternative Nobel Prize in 2007 for the resistance against Monsanto and now also against green genetic engineering .

biography

Schmeiser's grandparents emigrated to Canada from Rosenheim in Bavaria and settled there as farmers. Percy Schmeiser had been farming on the inherited 600-hectare farm for almost 60 years. Around 1970 he specialized in the breeding and cultivation of rapeseed and developed varieties that were specially adapted to regional conditions. He married his wife Louise in October 1952 and they had five children, 15 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He was mayor for a long time (1966–1983) and from 1967 to 1971 a member of the provincial parliament .

In 1997 Schmeiser found the genetically modified " Roundup Ready" rapeseed plants from the agrochemical company Monsanto on his land for the first time . The oilseed rape variety has been genetically modified to withstand the use of the Monsanto herbicide Roundup while other plants die in a field treated with it. Schmeiser claimed that the seeds must have got there by the wind from a neighboring farmer's field or from a truck driving past. On about one hectare, he selected seeds using Roundup, which contained at least 95% of the patented technology. When he sowed this replica seed on an area of ​​around 400 hectares in the following year , he was sued by the manufacturer for patent infringement. That lawsuit came with a $ 200,000 claim.

Before sowing, Monsanto had advised him that the seeds were patented and that he was not licensed. The group relied on the fact that according to patent law, independent production of seeds with patented properties by farmers is excluded and only multipliers contractually authorized by Monsanto are permitted to do so. Schmeiser countered that farmers had always had the right to propagate seeds on their own land. In his opinion, it is inadmissible to curtail or circumvent this right in the form of patents listed by Monsanto or other agrochemical companies.

The legal battle dragged on for several years. The 2004 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada upheld patent law and the claims of patent owners derived from it. Monsanto had not sued for punitive damages , but for reimbursement of the profit made by using the patent. Since Schmeiser did not treat the area sown in 1998 with Roundup and therefore did not benefit from the special properties of the herbicide-resistant rapeseed variety, he did not have to make any payments. However, the court held that in principle he did not have the right to knowingly cultivate the patented variety. Both parties had to bear their costs of the litigation. In particular, the court found it insufficiently explained why Schmeiser isolated the genetically modified oilseed rape - which he actually didn't want - and then sowed it himself over large areas.

During this time of litigation, Schmeiser became increasingly known as a symbolic figure and spokesman in the struggle of independent farmers for their rights and as an advocate of strict regulations and liability obligations for the cultivation of genetically modified crops. He accepted many invitations to give lectures worldwide and warned against the spread and use of genetically modified plants in agriculture.

In October 2000 Schmeiser was honored with the Mahatma Gandhi Award for his commitment , in 2007 the couple Percy and Louise Schmeiser were awarded the " Alternative Nobel Prize ":

" ... for their courage in defending biodiversity and farmers' rights, and challenging the environmental and moral perversity of current interpretations of patent laws. (... for their courage in defending biodiversity and farmers' rights and for pointing out and denouncing the perversity of the current interpretation of patent law in relation to the environment and morality.) "

- Explanation of the jury

In January 2008 Schmeiser was on a three-week lecture tour in southern Germany and Austria. After his return to Canada, another lawsuit was opened on January 23, 2008, in which this time Schmeiser sued Monsanto for continued contamination of its fields: In 2005, Monsanto's patented rapeseed again appeared on his fields. However, in the process, it never came to a verdict because Schmeiser before a scheduled for March 19, 2008 hearing Monsanto and Percy the dispute out of court in a comparison beilegten. According to Monsanto, similar agreements had previously been made with other farmers; only Schmeiser delayed this agreement unnecessarily. According to Schmeiser, Monsanto admitted in writing that, contrary to the confidentiality clauses envisaged up to then, he would report publicly on the entire process. Schmeiser also only had to sign the usual waiver of further lawsuits for the specific case. This waiver does not apply to possible future damage. Any further liability on the part of Monsanto for the specific case was excluded. Monsanto covered the costs for the removal of the plants on Schmeiser's fields amounting to CAN $ 660 , while Schmeiser covered the costs incurred through the proceedings.

In 2009 Bertram Verhaag published the documentary David versus Monsanto , which describes the Schmeisers' ten-year dispute with Monsanto.

In 2010, the Bavarian Nature Conservation Association awarded the Bavarian Nature Conservation Prize to Louise and Percy Schmeiser for their "worldwide commitment [...] for GMO-free food production" and their "global commitment to biodiversity , the preservation of food sovereignty, rural agriculture and the defense of elementary democracy Basic rights towards agricultural corporations. "

Schmeiser, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, died on October 13, 2020 at the age of 89.

Filmography

  • 2009: Percy Schmeiser - David versus Monsanto , documentary, director: Bertram Verhaag

literature

  • Manfred Grössler (Ed.): Danger genetic engineering: wrong way and way out. Concordverlag, Mariahof, 2005, ISBN 978-3-9501887-1-4 (Percy Schmeiser describes his case in the book).
  • Árpád Pusztai , Susan Bardócz; ed. by Jürgen Binder: Genetic engineering as a safety risk - a plea for stricter controls on genetic engineering . Orange press publishing house, Freiburg, 2009, ISBN 978-3-936086-50-8 .

Web links

Commons : Percy Schmeiser  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Percy Schmeiser, farmer known for fight against Monsanto, dead at 89. Retrieved on October 15, 2020 .
  2. ↑ GM oilseed rape is out of control. In: schrotundkorn.de
  3. ↑ a b Kai Krüger, Bertram Verhaag: Dead Harvest - The War for Seeds. Monument film, documentary 45 min.
  4. ↑ a b Decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in the Monsanto Canada Inc .. /. Schmeiser. Archived from the original on May 5, 2011 ; accessed on April 4, 2011 .
  5. ↑ Saved Seed and Farmer Lawsuits - Percy Schmeiser. Retrieved April 4, 2011 .
  6. ↑ Percy Schmeiser, winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize, visiting Munich: "Genetically manipulated plants are uncontrollable". In: eco-world.de , January 9, 2008.
  7. ^ Right Livelihood Award: Percy and Louise Schmeiser
  8. ^ Percy Schmeiser Settles Small Claims Court Issue with Monsanto Canada. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011 ; accessed on April 4, 2011 .
  9. ↑ http://tour.percy-schmeiser-on-tour.org/Presse_19_03_08.pdf German press release for comparison
  10. ↑ Monsanto pays damages. In: taz.de , March 20, 2008
  11. ^ Article in the ARD night magazine on June 29, 2009
  12. ↑ Nature conservation prize for Louise and Percy Schmeiser. In: Bund Naturschutz . Retrieved January 29, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Schmeiser, Percy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian rapeseed farmer, recipient of the 2007 Alternative Nobel Prize
DATE OF BIRTH January 5, 1931
DATE OF DEATH October 13, 2020