Not sure if this is the best place on the forum for this but thought it would be of interest. As well as the link I will copy and paste the text in case the link ever goes dead.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/court-rules-that-pesticide-drift-from-conventional-farms-is-trespassing.htm
Below is the article text;
This litigious battle is heating up between conventional and organic farms over both pesticide drift and the fear of GMO contamination. Recently, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that pesticide drift was indeed trespassing.
Oluf Johnson owns a 1,500 acre organic farm surrounded by conventional farms. The repeated pesticide drift caused big problems for Johnson, making his produce unsalable on the organic market, according to the Star Tribune and seen on Natural News.
According to the Star Tribune:
"Whenever this happens it will give people with overspray a legal avenue to pursue," said Doug Spanier, an attorney with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, which administers pesticide enforcement regulations in the state. And that could go for any farmer whose crop is made inedible by someone else's chemical spray and even homeowners whose property has been damaged by a neighbor's overuse of RoundUp, legal experts said.
Contamination of Johnson's fields occurred in 1998, 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2008 even after the
local pesticide cooperative, Paynesville Farmers Union had been repeatedly warned of spraying neighboring fields in a way that violated Minnesota state law.
Again, the Star Tribune:
For Johnson and his wife, Debra, it's been a long, hard fight. Their attorney, Arlo Vande Vegte of Long Lake, said they would not comment on the decision because talking about it publicly could jeopardize their case. It will get another hearing in Stearns County District Court, where it was originally dismissed, he said.
This is great news that highlights an ever growing and highly damaging problem. I'm curious to see whether we'll have some litigation over organic seed contamination with GMO seeds next. After all, Monsanto has been all over the lawsuits.
According to Organic Authority, "Monsanto has filed 145 lawsuits since 1997 against farmers who saved seeds" because they contend that all farmers that buy their GMO seeds sign a patent agreement. They're darn serious about the agreement too, if you break it you can count on a lawsuit.
Undoubtedly, this could be just the beginning as organic farmers seek damages for their ruined crops.
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