Monsanto Starts Raising Prices (big time)

Thanks for the heads up KS

It is disgusting. Monsantos has been running around for years "shoring up" their monopoly, and now that it is almost in reach, they are ratcheting up costs at the "company store".

Funny how when the organic industry was gaining strength with the support of intelligent consumers demanding what they want, big brother stepped into regulate............. now the traditional organic farmer is out; more, or less.

I can see the new religion coming; the one World religion................. Our gods will be the scientists of Monsantos with a chief god named CEO........pronounced see-o.

We will pray to them for next years bounties........... I wish it were funny, but it seems like the truth.

S&F

reply to post by KSPigpen

Yeap. Not a pretty picture, any way you look at it. But let's not tell people how high the problem goes, so they won't lose heart or drive at the magnitude of it.

But really...what the hell can we do about it. Lobbyists rule the consumer, although, I could think of other more descriptive pronouns...nice av.

This would definitely be on the top of my list as something pivotal that MUST be taken care of if we are to ever live with liberty again, but the problem is systemic, I believe. Lobbyists don't really rule...their money does. I think somewhere along the way, we've made some HUGE mistakes as a national people. Capitalism is about as beneficial to it's people as Democracy...it's NOT what it's cracked up to be. Nother star.

EDIT: One for you too, Sancho.

[edit on 17-9-2009 by lagnar]

reply to post by lagnar


I tired to remember what brought me to ATS in the first place, and I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the Codex.

I've priced heirloom seeds, but still have none, and my farming is lousy. The thought of starving to death with a full belly is not appealing to me.

Multi-vitamins while we still can, I suppose, provided they aren't made by Monsanto.

Red Beans, Rice and Flintstones chewables. Sounds like a plan.

reply to post by sanchoearlyjones


Thanks for stopping by, Sancho. I know you're busy guy these days.

It's easy to 'think' you're making in a difference these days. Shop at the farmer's market, buy 'organic' yadda yadda, and it turns out it's all just a load of garbage.

Why go to a farmer's market to buy GM crap? Even if you could, they'll fine the farmer for not having a license to sell food...gonna need a health department inspection...

They won't allow us to take any homemade goodies to our kids school anymore. They would put the kids on a sheet and every few weeks it was my kid's 'turn' to provide the snacks. All they would accept was pre-packaged crap.

I understand their 'reasoning' but ain't it great to eat processed garbage out if it's own little plastic wrapper?

Hell in a hand basket Sancho.

Monsanto is the most succesful producrer of seeds on the planet. We should all be thankful to them for enabling farmers to increase their yield, lower costs and supply us with food crops at a time when people are screaming about possible food shortages.

Farmers are not being forced to buy monsanto's roundup ready soybean seed. They are free to continue planting and harvesting any variety of seed they want. The truth is that roundup ready soybeans are the most economical. If they were'nt nobody would plant them.
In the future look for a host of new crops which monsanto and others are developing which will be roundup ready. Everything from corn to turfgrass will be avaiable in a roundup ready form and we all will be better off for it.
The fact that monsanto recieved a patent on their product should come as no surprise to anyone.
Would you not expect the same from a pharmecuetical company who patents a lifesaving drug then is able to recoup the cost and profit from it for a period of time. Why is the agricutural industry any differentt.

Originally posted by MagnumOverDrive
Monsanto is the most succesful producrer of seeds on the planet. We should all be thankful to them for enabling farmers to increase their yield, lower costs and supply us with food crops at a time when people are screaming about possible food shortages.

Farmers are not being forced to buy monsanto's roundup ready soybean seed. They are free to continue planting and harvesting any variety of seed they want. The truth is that roundup ready soybeans are the most economical. If they were'nt nobody would plant them.
In the future look for a host of new crops which monsanto and others are developing which will be roundup ready. Everything from corn to turfgrass will be avaiable in a roundup ready form and we all will be better off for it.
The fact that monsanto recieved a patent on their product should come as no surprise to anyone.
Would you not expect the same from a pharmecuetical company who patents a lifesaving drug then is able to recoup the cost and profit from it for a period of time. Why is the agricutural industry any differentt.

Eek. I hope this was sarcastic. If not, read my reply to a similar earlier post.

Monsanto now sues, and wins, any farmer that has monsanto seeds blown onto their farm. They own 90% market share in MANY crops, including corn and soy beans.

Seeds not manufactured by monsanto are not available to farmers. Period.

reply to post by MagnumOverDrive


Thanks for contributing to the discussion.


'Force' may be the wrong word. 'Coerce' might be more appropriate, and 'manipulate' is more than likely a closer match as well.

Monsanto in India

Feudalism has returned to farming in the US and Canada, according to the US Center for Food Safety’s report detailing the domination over American staple crops by the corporations and their ruthless prosecution of farmers.

Once the ink is dried on the "technology agreements" signed by the farmers buying genetically modified (GM) seed, they enter into contracts that effectively relinquish to Monsanto their right to plant, harvest and sell the GM seed. From that moment on, they are also vulnerable to harassment such as having their property investigated, litigations and out of court settlements that are part and parcel of licensing a Monsanto patented product.

No grower is safe from this onslaught as third generation Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser discovered when he lost to Monsanto in court for failing to pay royalties on GM canola seed that had contaminated his non-GM canola crop. "The corporations are becoming the barons and lords, which are what my grandparents thought they had escaped." Schmeiser said.

To-date, Monsanto has filed 90 lawsuits against American farmers; and 147 farmers and 39 small businesses or farm companies have had to fight for their lives to avoid paying additional court costs, attorneys’ fees, and in some cases, costs incurred by Monsanto while investigating them

The Center for Food Safety estimates that Monsanto has been awarded over $15 million for judgments granted in their favour. The largest recorded single payment received from one farmer was US$3 052 800 (Farmer Anderson, Case no. 4:01: CV-01 749).

www.i-sis.org.uk...

American farmers are hard pushed to find high quality, conventional varieties of corn, soy and cottonseed. Anecdotal evidence supports this. Troy Roush, an Indiana soybean farmer says, "You can’t even purchase them in this market. They are not available." Similar reports come from the corn and cotton farmers who say, "There are not too many seeds available that are not genetically altered in some way."

You couple their 'terminator' technology with a single source supplier of seed and you risk, though a lack of genetic diversity, a global catastrophe.

Percy Schmeiser did not buy Monsanto's patented seed, nor did he obtain the seed illegally. Pollen from genetically engineered canola seeds blew onto his land from neighboring farms. (Percy Schmeiser's neighbors and an estimated 40% of farmers in Western Canada grow GM canola). Monsanto's GM canola genes invaded Schmeiser's farm without his consent. Shortly thereafter, Monsanto's "gene police" invaded his farm and took seed samples without his permission. Percy Schmeiser was a victim of genetic pollution from GM crops - but the court says he must now pay Monsanto $10,000 for licensing fees and up to $75,000 in profits from his 1998 crop. It's like saying that Monsanto's technology is spreading a sexually transmitted disease but everyone else has to wear a condom.

www.mindfully.org...

As a result of the genetic engineering revolution, for the first time in mankind’s history the entire planet is threatened with the commercial control of most of world food supply by a handful of private corporations—most of which are controlled by U.S. or UK financial groups.

The stakes here are so high that British Environment Secretary Michael Meacher was fired by Prime Minister Tony Blair in June, 2003, for refusing to endorse GM crops without long-term government studies of the possible effects on humans, animals and the environment.

What’s new and alarming about GM crops is the fact that a handful of private corporations, led by Monsanto, have used their influence in Washington, D.C. and in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to patent and claim monopoly rights on the basic food seed supply of humankind

proliberty.com...

So yeah, 'forced' might not be the right word here.

When a farmer signs the 'technology agreement' with Monsanto, he is not allowed to keep his seed. He has to buy new seed every year, if he is to continue using that strain.

With Monsanto's very public tactics, even cross-pollination of your NON-GM crops, by pollen floating from a different farmer's filed can leave you guilty of patent infringement. Nice guys.

When there are very few other alternatives, no, you are not 'forced' to buy Monsanto, you can always just pack it up.

Great choice.





[edit on 17-9-2009 by KSPigpen]

No I'm not being sarcastic at all. patent infringement is a serious matter. Just ask any hollywood exec. about copyright infringement and listen to their response. Farmers who decide to stert using a patented variety have to follow the rules. Roundup ready soybeans is not the first patent given on plants.
soybeans are big business and if someone is growing five thousand acres from seed they saved from last harvest the loss to the developer of the patented variety is looking at a sizeable loss in revenue, hence the aggressive stance they take on enforcing the patent.
Look at some of the fines levied on music downloaders who have been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for private use. They never made a dime off those downloads . If monsanto didn't try to curtail the practice of saving seeds their profits would not exist. Why go to the trouble of developing these new varietie at all . The fact is these new varieties are helping farmers cut down on pesticede use, I do question the health benefits of genetically modified foods and the inherint risk to consiumers but that is another topic.

reply to post by MagnumOverDrive


Wow. Just wow.

While we r at it, perhaps i should try and patent life as we now it so I can sue anyone who breathes

Advocating things like this is advocating the end of the world. Copyright infringement is a serious crime? THE TERMINATION OF FERTILE SEEDS IS FAR MORE SERIOUS.

Wow. For the first time ever on this site, I am pretty sure I am at least talking to someone with ties to monsanto, if not an agent all-together.

reply to post by captaintyinknots


I agree. We crossed a dangerous and, IMHO, terrible line when we allowed the patenting of life forms. I personally find the practice reprehensible and I find the idea that people who use the NATURAL BYPRODUCT of plant life for their own benefit are criminals just as reprehensible.

MagnumOverDrive... I'm speechless. I am struggling for words here to explain how disgusting I find your point of view without breaking the T&C. I mean no offense, you have the right to believe what you want, but I guess it is so alien and bizzare to me that I can't relate.

I think I can finally understand how the Native Americans felt when the white man came and offered to buy their land.

[edit on 9-17-2009 by rogerstigers]

Tell me how this is will bring about the end of the world?

Originally posted by MagnumOverDrive
Tell me how this is will bring about the end of the world?

Do you know anything about monsanto?

Do you know anything about termiantor seed tech?

I take it not. If you did, you wouldnt be asking these questions or advocating these actions.

Do you understand that terminator tech can and will cross with native vegitation, causing its sterility? Meaning the death of all non-monsanto plant life. That sure would help their profits(nevermind that certain of their additives are proven carcinogens).

And that is BEST CASE SCENARIO. It could just as easily cause sterility in all plants, causing mass extinction.

Like I said before, why do you think they started the seed bank?

Originally posted by MagnumOverDrive
Tell me how this is will bring about the end of the world?

It's been show that these GM soybeans will cross pollinate with natural soybeans. They've already sued and destroyed a farmer's life because of it.

So that being said, they added a terminator gene that sterilizes second gen crops. So this gene cross pollinates with natural soybeans and sterilizes their second generation. As GM crop usage rises, less natural crops will be able to grow because the competition and "unintentional" sterilization will destroy the seeds. It's already getting hard to find natural seed out there.

There's a danger to tinkering with plant DNA. Let's say all of our soybean crop converted to GM with terminator genes. Suddenly there's a problem and the GM seeds can't be produced in the factory for a while. They miss growing season and noone has any stock because it is "illegal" to reuse the seeds they might have gotten. Now we have NO crop at all. Who suffers? The people who use the soybeans for food and materials.



[edit on 9-17-2009 by rogerstigers]

Doesn't this correlate with the "Timewave Zero" prediction of high food prices for this year?

Doesn't this correlate with the "Timewave Zero" prediction of high food prices for this year?

reply to post by captaintyinknots


Actually the Monsantos debate has revolved around them trying to corner the patent to life; all it encompasses as well.

There is wide spread speculation, as well as documentation the reason so much DNA is being harvested amongst more deviant reasons is to make life altering discoveries............... Which lead to Earth shattering profits from the patents monsantos will receive from the theft.

This will hurt the farmers in Asia and Africa who were bribed into growing GM crops without being told the seeds are sterile.

If they can cross pollinate and sterile plants are all we have left this will cause huge problems for manking as the manufacturers will have the power to starve nations which will cause unrest and even more wars.

Here in the UK if food has a GM product in the ingredients it has to be on the label, as the majority of Brits are against it. and organic produce is growing in popularity I read somewhere the EU wants to change this.

[edit on 17-9-2009 by dizzylizzy]

Thought this thread was about roundup ready soybeans . Terminator technology is something else altogether and of course is not a good thing. All i was trying to point at is that monsanto has developed a method of more efficiently using our resources and like any other patented variety or product is entitled to patent protection. i'm not saying wverything they are trying to do is good that's why we have a patent office. Technology is pushing the envelope on what is custumarily considered sound farming pracices. I am not advocating giving any company rights to spread geneticly modified plants or animals around that could endanger the existence of other valuable and neccesary plants.

reply to post by MagnumOverDrive


Sure. Using technology to improve farm output is great. More power to you, so long as you respect the land and treat it right. But I raise an objection when you start trying to copyright life. I hated it when it was simply cross-breeding plants and copyrighting the results. I hate it now that it is genetic design. Can you imagine if they started making copyrighted breeds of dogs?

Originally posted by MagnumOverDrive
Thought this thread was about roundup ready soybeans . Terminator technology is something else altogether and of course is not a good thing. All i was trying to point at is that monsanto has developed a method of more efficiently using our resources and like any other patented variety or product is entitled to patent protection. i'm not saying wverything they are trying to do is good that's why we have a patent office. Technology is pushing the envelope on what is custumarily considered sound farming pracices. I am not advocating giving any company rights to spread geneticly modified plants or animals around that could endanger the existence of other valuable and neccesary plants.

Roundup ready soy and corn are linked to cancer. So even if that is the only thing we are talking about, it is still bad.

but that isnt all we are talking about. Monsantos ability to price gouge is based more on terminator tech and the fact that they have succesfully put farmer out of business because of natural growth(ok, not natural, but natural spreading, wind and birds and the such) to keep the competition on their heels....