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Syngenta appealing class-action lawsuit certification

Syngenta is appealing the class action certification of lawsuits filed by farmers who lost money when China refused shipments of Syngenta corn.

Duane Martin is Syngenta’s commercial traits lead and tells Brownfield the company respectfully disagrees with the circuit court decision in Kansas City, “Simply because we believe there is such variability in the way that growers grow, market and sell corn, it’s difficult to consider all of them as one class, or, in one situation.”

Martin says Syngenta maintains that the lawsuits seeking financial recovery after China refused Syngenta’s Agrisure Duracade corn from the U.S. are without merit.

Martin says it was an unfortunate situation – pointing out that the price of corn had started dropping in mid-2013 prior to China’s first shipment refusal later that same year, “So, it’s hard to relate that drop in price to an event that had not yet occurred.”

Lawyers for the farmers say the class action status will help their clients recover their losses.