Victory for Organic Farmers

The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled last month that chemical pesticides used by conventional farmers that cross property lines and contaminate neighboring organic farms could be considered trespassing, nuisance and negligence, entitling organic farmers to retributions.
Minnesota’s Star Tribune reports that improperly applied pesticides, which have been repeatedly drifting onto a Stearns County farm owned by Oluf Johnson, have had dire consequences on his organic crops. The damage caused by the chemical drift has rendered his products unsalable in the organic market. But, thanks to the new ruling from the State, the reckless use of chemicals entitles Johnson to recover damages from the company applying the chemicals to the nearby farms.
The Star Tribune also reports that a California farmer was recently awarded $1 million in damages from a fog of pesticides that drifted from a conventional farm and contaminated his entire season’s crop of organic herbs.
Pesticides, while not visible trespassers, constitute physical “particulate matter” with the ability to contaminate and cause damage to organic farms, the Minnesota ruling found. They have the ability to invade and destroy the “possessory rights of landowners,” creating a cause of action for trespass.
The timing of this ruling comes as toxic pesticides, largely Monsanto’s glyphosate Roundup, are being used in record numbers, with at least 70 percent of processed foods in U.S. supermarkets containing GM ingredients. 93 percent of soy, 86 percent of corn and 93 percent of cotton and canola planted in the U.S. in 2010, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, were genetically modified.