Print This PageMonsanto Asks DuPont for Investigation into Coordinated Campaign of Misinformation
The following documents relate to a multi-year attack against the company. After reviewing these documents, it appears this covert, coordinated assault is both funded and directed by DuPont. The links below highlight the extent of DuPont’s activities against Monsanto.
- Delta and Pine Land Acquisition Announced
- DuPont Lobbying Reports
- Farmer Letters from Georgia Asking for Investigation into Monsanto’s Acquisition
- Letter Solicitations in Other U.S. States
- U.S. Department of Justice’s Decision Regarding the Delta and Pine Land Acquisition
- DuPont’s Public Statements about Optimum® GAT®
- DuPont’s Financial Backing of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM)
Delta and Pine Land Acquisition Announced: In 2006, Monsanto announced its intent to purchase Delta and Pine Land Company. After this announcement, questions were raised about Monsanto’s investment in the company.
Monsanto Buys Delta and Pine Land, Top Supplier of Cotton Seeds in U.S. (The New York Times, August 16, 2006)
Article outlining Monsanto’s announcement of intent to acquire Delta and Pine Land Company, covering the history between the two companies and Monsanto’s plans for Delta and Pine Land’s future
DuPont Presentation (September 5, 2006)
Presentation distributed to congressional offices on behalf of DuPont – Pioneer Hi-Bred about Monsanto’s alleged anticompetitive practices
Street Sleuth: Foes of Monsanto Deal Dig In – Unusual Backlash Germinates within Crop Biotech Industry to Proposed Delta & Pine Union (The Wall Street Journal, December 11, 2006)
Article discussing our competition’s opposition to Monsanto’s purchase of Delta and Pine Land Company
DuPont Lobbying Reports: The following reports were filed by Dickstein Shapiro, LLP on behalf of DuPont between 2005 and 2007. DuPont paid the firm $10,000 or less in earlier years, and the payments substantially increased after Monsanto announced the intended acquisition of Delta and Pine Land.
2005 Year-End Lobbying Report
Issued by Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky, LLP on behalf of DuPont for lobbying an energy policy act
2006 Mid-Year Lobbying Report
Issued by Dickstein Shapiro, LLP on behalf of DuPont for monitoring legislative activity related to anti-trust issues
2006 Year-End Lobbying Report
Issued by Dickstein Shapiro, LLP on behalf of DuPont for monitoring legislative activity related to anti-trust issues
2007 Mid-Year Lobbying Report
Issued by Dickstein Shapiro, LLP on behalf of DuPont for monitoring legislative activity related to anti-trust issues and the Farm Bill Extension Act of 2007
Farmer Letters from Georgia Asking for Investigation into Monsanto’s Acquisition: Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss and Attorney General Thurbert Baker received letters signed by farmers in late 2006 and early 2007 asking for an antitrust investigation into Monsanto. The authenticity of these letters was called into question by Georgia State Representative Terry England and exposed in an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Letters of Ill Repute (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 1, 2007)
Article investigating forged letters sent to Georgia Senator Chambliss and Attorney General Thurbert Baker opposing Monsanto’s acquisition of Delta and Pine Land
Email with Georgia Constituent Letters (December 29, 2006)
Email from a registered DuPont lobbyist to redacted distribution list with letters from constituents regarding the Monsanto/Delta and Pine Land merger
Letter to Honorable Senator Saxby Chambliss (November 9, 2006)
Letter allegedly from Terry England, Georgia state representative, expressing concern about Monsanto’s acquisition of Delta and Pine Land
Letter to Honorable Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker (November 13, 2006)
Letter from Don Collins, a Georgia farmer and president of Citizens to Promote Pike County, asking for an investigation into Monsanto
Letter to Honorable Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker (November 15, 2006)
Letter from Chuck Coley, a Georgia farmer, asking for an investigation into Monsanto’s “control over the market” and acquisition of Delta and Pine Land
Letter to Honorable Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker (November 15, 2006)
Letter from Billy Sanders, a Georgia farmer, requesting an investigation into Monsanto’s business practices
Letter to Honorable Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker (November 16, 2006)
Letter from Douglas Dickens, a Georgia farmer, expressing concern about Monsanto’s acquisition of Delta and Pine Land
Letter to Honorable Senator Saxby Chambliss (November 18, 2006)
Letter credited to Virginia Adams, a Georgia farmer, asking for an investigation into Monsanto’s business practices
Letter to Honorable Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker (November 20, 2006)
Letter allegedly from Charles Martin, a Georgia farmer, asking for an investigation into Monsanto’s acquisition of Delta and Pine Land
Letter to Honorable Senator Saxby Chambliss (January 3, 2007)
Letter from Terry England, Georgia state representative, stating he did not write or sign the letter dated November 9, 2006 and expressing concern over six other letters circulating in Washington, D.C.
Letter Solicitations in Other U.S. States: In addition to Georgia, public relations firms in other states also approached stakeholders about submitting letters opposing Monsanto’s acquisition of Delta and Pine Land.
Email Regarding Letters to Indiana Congressman about Monsanto’s Delta and Pine Land Acquisition
(December 19, 2006)
Note indicating a PR firm out of Washington, D.C. was offering individuals money to send a U.S. Congressman of Indiana letters opposing Monsanto’s Delta and Pine Land acquisition
Email Soliciting Letters Opposing Monsanto’s Delta and Pine Land Acquisition (January 3, 2007)
Email and talking points sent by the president of Kenyon Black, Inc., a public relations and advertising firm, soliciting letters on behalf of the American Antitrust Institute (AAI) to oppose Monsanto’s acquisition of Delta and Pine Land
Email and Fax from Monsanto to Kenyon Black, Inc. (January 12, 2007)
Communication to Kenyon Black, Inc. from Monsanto stating inquiries to AAI revealed the organization has no ties to AAI, as well as notifying them of misstatements in the talking points circulated with the email
Monsanto to Release Licensing, Marketing Information to Iowa AG (Quad-Cities Online, September 13, 2007)
Article about Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller’s investigation into “possible antitrust violations” by Monsanto
U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Decision Regarding the Delta and Pine Land Acquisition: Following the DOJ’s consent with Monsanto’s acquisition of Delta and Pine Land, Attorneys General from 13 U.S. states – some of which do not grow cotton – filed comments opposing the decision.
Attorneys General’s Comments on the Proposed Final Judgment in United States v. Monsanto Company, et al.
(August 24, 2007)
Statement to the DOJ opposing its proposed consent with Monsanto, claiming the decision “fails to remedy the anticompetitive effects” of the Delta and Pine Land acquisition
West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw’s Fundraiser Financial Statement (October 9, 2007)
Financial statement from McGraw’s campaign indicates donations from Bernard Nash, a lobbyist at Dickstein Shapiro, LLP, and his wife and two children. McGraw was one of the Attorneys General who submitted comments against the DOJ’s decision.
The New Regulators: Why Corporate Compliance Strategies Must Address the Growing Influence of State Attorney Generals (ACC Docket, September 2008)
Written by Thomas L. Sager and Bernard Nash, a lobbyist for Dickstein Shapiro, LLP, which lobbies on behalf of DuPont
DuPont’s Public Statements about Optimum® GAT®: After announcing Optimum GAT technology in 2006, DuPont’s story changed over time about when the product would be launched, its value to the company and its benefits to farmers, culminating in the lawsuit filed by Monsanto in May 2009.
DuPont Names Glyphosate, ALS Tolerant Trait Optimum™ GAT™ (March 2, 2006)
DuPont press release announcing glyphosate-tolerance technology that “can allow for higher glyphosate application rates and a wider application window than other products currently available”
DuPont/Pioneer Introduce New Herbicide Resistance Trait (March 16, 2006)
Article quoting Pioneer Hi-Bred President Dean Oestreich as saying: “GAT is really a more effective glyphosate tolerant product…and it’s got greater yield potential than those products that we are seeing in the marketplace today.”
Presentation by John Bedbrook, Vice President, Research & Development, DuPont, on DuPont’s Research Pipeline (June 14, 2006)
Presentation cites plans to commercialize Optimum GAT in 2010
DuPont on Track to Launch New Biotech Soybean (Food Navigator-USA.com, Nov. 20, 2006)
Article discussing DuPont’s plans to retire its Roundup Ready® varieties and replace them with Optimum GAT
Optimum GAT Trait Now Near Commercialization (Indiana Agri-News, April 20, 2007)
Article citing the DuPont’s soybean technology is on track to be commercialized in 2009
Pioneer circulates product information about Optimum GAT, citing an anticipated Optimum GAT commercial launch for corn in the U.S. in 2010 and in soybeans in 2011
Optimum GAT – Herbicide Tolerance: More Flexibility. Maximized Results. Video (January 2009)
Transcript of DuPont/Pioneer DVD stating the companies’ intentions to combine Optimum GAT with Roundup Ready technology
U.S. Patent Application Publication (January 8, 2009)
Patent application filed by DuPont in May 2008 for stacking Optimum GAT and Roundup Ready technologies
Global Ag Conference Presentation (March 10, 2009)
Presentation by Paul Schickler, President of Pioneer Hi-Bred, stating an Optimum GAT soybean launch in 2011, as well as stating the market for the product is less than $100 million – down from the initial $200 million announced
Complaint filed by Monsanto Company in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri (May 4, 2009)
Filing against DuPont for patent infringement, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and injunctive relief
OCM Disappointed by Monsanto’s Move to Restrict Seed Choice in Seed Selection (May 5, 2009)
Press release issued by the Organization for Competitive Markets
DuPont Alleges Anti-Competitive Conduct by Monsanto (May 6, 2009)
DuPont news release in response to Monsanto’s lawsuit filed on May 4, 2009 for patent infringement
AG Concerned About Impact of Ag Biotech Lawsuit (May 6, 2009)
News release issued by Oklahoma Attorney General W.A. Drew Edmondson about the Monsanto/DuPont patent infringement lawsuit
Pioneer-Hi Bred Video about Optimum GAT (June 18, 2009)
Video about the benefits of the Optimum GAT trait with no mention of stacking with Roundup Ready technology
DuPont’s Financial Backing of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM): OCM, an organization that has been vocal in its opposition to Monsanto’s business practices and which DuPont supports, hosted its annual conference in St. Louis in August 2009. The topic of the conference was competition in the agriculture market. Just before the conference, stories ran in news outlets questioning Monsanto’s alleged anti-competitive practices.
Monsanto Likely Topic at Competition Conference (St. Louis Business Journal, July 28, 2009)
Article discussing OCM’s conference to be held in St. Louis
Anti-Competitive Practices Stifle Innovation, Hurt Missouri Farmers (July 27, 2009)
News release issued by Weber Merritt.
DuPont Backs Monsanto Critic (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 7, 2009)
Article revealing DuPont’s financial backing for the Organization for Competitive Markets
