Monsanto has settled with wheat farmers for €1.9m in the US after a number of lawsuits were taken by the farmers after they discovered GM wheat in their crops.
The cases arose after GM strains were found in a wheat crop in the state of Oregan. No genetically modified wheat is approved in the US, and when the strain was found, it caused a temporary ban on US wheat exports.
Monsanto said it entered into a settlement agreement with soft white wheat farmers in the Pacific Northwest that resolves a number of lawsuits related to the May 2013 discovery of genetically-modified wheat on a farm in Eastern Oregon and subsequent temporary limits on certain exports of soft white wheat.
It said that rather than paying the costs of protracted litigation, this agreement puts that money to work in research and development efforts for the wheat industry, while providing a negotiated level of compensation for farmers with documented soft white wheat sales from May 30 to November 30, 2013, said Kyle McClain, Monsanto chief litigation counsel.
The monies were divided between farmers and wheat growers associations.