Monsanto agreed to settle lawsuits filed by growers of soft white wheat over the May 29, 2013, discovery of unapproved biotech wheat in an Oregon field, says broadcaster KCRU. The wheat was a strain genetically engineered by Monsanto to tolerate the weedkiller glyphosate but abandoned after field trials years ago. The growers say they lost money because Japan and South Korea temporarily curtailed purchases of U.S.-grown soft white wheat. Terms of the settlement, reached last week, were not disclosed.
The settlement “will likely involve some sort of financial compensation” for growers, said AgWeb. It says there are 4,000-5,000 growers of soft white wheat, located mostly in the Pacific Northwest. Still on the docket are complaints by hard red winter wheat growers.