The Associated Press is reporting out of Little Rock, AR today that a Woodruff County Circuit Court jury "has ordered Bayer CropScience LP to pay a rice farmer me than $1 million in a lawsuit over [an] experimental rice variety."According to the article, the decision awards $532,643 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages to rice farmer Lenny Joe Kyle. The jury found that Kyle's crop was damaged when Bayer CropScience's "experimental variety of genetically modified rice was mixed with the rice supply.
While the US Department of Agriculture maintains no risk was created by the mixing, both Japan and the European Union restricted U.S. rice. Naturally, this lead to a drop in rice prices and a decline in US rice exports.
For their part, Bayer CropScience released a statement saying the company disagrees with the decision and is considering its legal options at this point. The company also maintains they did nothing wrong.
To read the AP report, click here.
Posted: 03/10/10
