Free Republic

ince 1947, Percy Schmeiser has been more than a Canadian canola farmer. He and his wife Louise have been seed developers, saving year to year the best of their crop, slowly breeding seed adapted to the Saskatchewan plains and, more particularly, to their own acres. But all that ended with a surprise letter. One day in August 1998, the Schmeisers received notice from Monsanto. It accused the farmers of "stealing" Monsanto's patented seed, Roundup Ready — a genetically modified version of canola that survives spraying of the popular herbicide Roundup — that the company had found on the Schmeiser...

04/25/02 Commercial salmon fishermen and environmental groups filed suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., to make federal water managers in the Klamath Basin release more water into the Klamath River for salmon. The groups said the action, if successful, would not severely affect the amount of water available to farmers in the Klamath Project. Many of the farmers went without water last year because of federal Endangered Species Act restrictions. But Dan Keppen of the Klamath Water Users Association said farmers are concerned that a court injunction in the case could limit water to farms and set...