Bader Farms Suffers Millions of Dollars in Losses from Illegal Dicamba Spraying
Re: Bader Farms, Inc., et al v. Monsanto Company, Case No. 16DU-CC00111
Monsanto Company is currently being served with the first known lawsuit over illegal dicamba spraying to protect its Xtend cotton and soybean seeds. Bader Farms, Inc., et al v. Monsanto Company, Case No. 16DU-CC00111 was recently filed in Dunklin County, Missouri on behalf of Bader Farms, Inc. and Bill Bader, individually. Bader Farms is a family-owned farming operation and is Missouri’s largest peach producer. Bader Farms is located in Campbell, Missouri and has been a family business since 1987. The lawsuit was filed by Randles & Splittgerber, LLP, a Kansas City law firm whose members have extensive products liability litigation experience.
The lawsuit alleges that Monsanto Company knowingly marketed its Xtend cotton and soybean seeds to farmers without any safe herbicide. The suit claims Monsanto knew the only option purchasers would have to protect crops grown from those seeds would be to illegally spray dicamba to protect the crops from weeds. Spraying dicamba is illegal because it can drift to other farmers’ fields and destroy their crops. The suit alleges Monsanto chose to sell the Xtend seeds knowing that such destructive spraying would be inevitable.
“Monsanto chose to sell these seeds before they could be safely cultivated,” said Bev Randles of Randles & Splittgerber. “We believe it is against Monsanto’s own practice, not to mention industry standards, to release a seed without a corresponding herbicide to protect the crop from destruction. But Monsanto chose greed over public safety and made farms in Southeast Missouri and Northeast Arkansas unwilling test labs for their defective seed system.”
Bader Farms has been greatly impacted by the illegal spraying to protect Monsanto’s Xtend seeds. In 2015 alone, Bader Farms saw damage to more than 7,000 peach trees, a $1.5 million gross loss of sales. In 2016, Bader Farms has lost over 30,000 peach trees across hundreds of acres of its peach orchards due to dicamba drift.
Randles & Splittgerber, LLP expects more farmers to file suit who have been damaged by illegal spraying of dicamba onto Monsanto’s Xtend seeds. “Our firm continues to be contacted to help farmers who have been harmed by Monsanto’s actions,” said Randles. “They are folks who have supported Monsanto by purchasing their products for years, only to have been betrayed in the end. We expect more farmers to file suit in the coming weeks.”
