Monsanto Settlement Will Pay PNW Wheat Growers and Associations

Wednesday’s news that Monsanto has entered into a settlement agreement with soft white wheat growers in the Pacific Northwest was met very positively by growers attending the Tri-State Grain Growers Convention. Oregon Wheat Growers League CEO Blake Rowe shared some of the settlement details with the Oregon attendees Thursday.
Rowe: “Monsanto will be donating $250,000 to four organizations: $100,000 to the National Wheat Foundation, $50,000 each to the Oregon Wheat Growers League, the Washington Association Wheat Growers and the Idaho Grain Producers. I’ll answer the same question that I’ve got several times before I’ve even read the terms of the settlement — No I don’t think we’ve decided what to do with the money.”
The settlement fund has approximately $2 million which has been designated to pay farmers in Washington, Oregon and Idaho who sold soft white wheat last year between May 30th and November 30th of 2013.
According to Monsanto’s press release on the settlement, the company says that rather than paying the costs of lengthy litigation, this agreement will put that money to work in research and development efforts for the wheat industry, while providing a negated level of compensation for farmers with documented soft white wheat sales from specified time period.
In the event that any portion of the settlement fund remains after claims are paid — up to $250,000 of the remainder will be added to the donations to the four previously mentioned wheat organizations.