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Syngenta settlement will be split many ways

It will be a while before it’s known how much of the $1.51 billion settlement from Syngenta will go to farmers who claim damage.  Attorney and administrative fees will come off the top, according to Kristine Tidgren, director of Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation.  After that, a total of $72 million goes to three sub-classes in the lawsuit: growers who planted MIR162 corn, grain handlers and ethanol producers.

“Whatever’s left of that $1.51 billion fund would be what’s left for the other corn producers,” Tidgren told Brownfield Ag News Tuesday, “and we just don’t know what that number will be.”

The amount for each producer will be determined through USDA data showing how many acres are planted times the county yield, said Tidgren.

“That would be the primary method that the amount of basically ‘recovery quantities’ is what the settlement calls it,” she said.  “That’s the amount for each producer that they would be able to file a claim for.”

It’s not known what the attorneys will get from the settlement, but Tidgren says the lawyers themselves have pointed out that it’s the largest ever GMO settlement in the U.S.

“So they’re definitely, I believe, going to be seeking pretty good compensation for what they’ve characterized as really outstanding services,” Tidgren said.

The settlement is the result of a class action lawsuit claiming damages from Syngenta’s release of GMO corn before China had approved it for export.  The claim is that the corn market fell after China rejected shiploads of corn in which traces of the MIR162 trait had been discovered.  The settlement still has to be approved by the court.

AUDIO: Kristine Tidgren (10 min. MP3)