National Black Farmers Association Press Release

John Boyd President of the National Black Farmers Association Released the Following Statement:

“The National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) is alarmed by the lawsuit filed today by Monsanto in an attempt to block DuPont and Pioneer from introducing in soybeans their Optimum GAT trait combined (“stacked”) with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready trait. We are calling on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to take action along with state attorney generals said Boyd we should have more than one company to purchase seed from Boyd continued.

On April 29, 2009, NBFA held its first annual Legislative Conference, the theme of which was: President Obama and the New Congress: An Opportunity for a New Federal Partnership. NBFA assembled a diverse and distinguished group of members of Congress, educators and opinion leaders to discuss issues relevant to small and Black farmers.

One of the topics of discussion was competition issues in agriculture. Not surprisingly, the main focus was on Monsanto and the lack of choice in biotechnology used in seeds. Monsanto’s lawsuit against DuPont and Pioneer is another example of Monsanto’s actions that we discussed at our conference to restrict stacking, maintain its monopoly and continue to deny farmers with choices of technology. The lack of choice is particularly troublesome for small and Black farmers because we tend to have very specific needs.

The NBFA believes that restrictions on stacking are wrong and need to be halted, and that seed companies ought to be able to offer to farmers the technology we need regardless of the source of that technology. We strongly urge federal and state regulators to take action to enforce our
antitrust laws and restore competition to agriculture. This will allow small and Black farmers to choose the products that best suit our needs, making it a little easier for black farmers to remain on the land.