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Because farmers are strange people that own guns, buy seeds from Monsanto,

Some do, some don't.

Do the farmers who supplied you with the straw you used to build that strawman do so?

And when seeds blow onto a neighbouring farm Monsanto will sue both farmers for illegal distribution and use of their generically-engineered seeds. Monsanto is one of the "Great Satans."

Because farmers are strange people that own guns, buy seeds from Monsanto,

Some do, some don't.

Do the farmers who supplied you with the straw you used to build that strawman do so?

http://nelsonfarm.net/issue.htm

http://nelsonfarm.net/issue.htm

I would go through the trouble of going down the list, but Google already exists.

I believe these were some of the older crops before they were rendered sterile. It has happened though. GM-crop companies (Monsato, I believe) have sued farmers under the DMCA for using the produced seeds of plants which Monsato sold seeds for. There was a case where a farmer was sued even though the neighboring farmer used such plants and pollen from those plants got carried over. Here's a recent one: http://nelsonfarm.net/issue.htm

I'm not so worried about the ingestion part of GM crops but the troubling part for me is seeing Megacorp take down small time farmers for "copyright infringement"[0][1] due to crops cross-pollinating via the wind, bees, whatever. It's ridiculous. It's basically a legal argument to eradicate any form of alternative food source other than Monsanto's monopoly.

Thing is, GM crops are the foothold for food copyright. If you need any indication where that could end up have a look at RIAA proceedings for the past 10 years or even Microsoft's (et al) Seed Vault[2].

[0] - http://www.nelsonfarm.net/issue.htm
[1] - http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/monsanto-wins-lawsuit-against-indiana-soybean-farmer
[2] - http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23503

You mean like they didn't sue the Nelson farm. Or Schmeiser. Or that they have that they should be allowed to sell seeds that haven't passed environmental safety studies, between now and when the studies are finished. Because to prohibit them from selling seeds before safety/ecological studies pass is unconstitutional.

Nope, they won't sue anyone. Just ignore the hulking gorilla with the patents, they really are friendly.

then I trust the free market to make the right decision and choose the seed that is best for the food supply.

That, actually, is a mistake in an era of regulatory capture and corporatism. You think that only applies to the phone company and ISPs?

Screwmaster's This sentiment is correct. Monsanto, specifically, has been suing farms not using their seeds as well. Here's the details:

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Goliath_and_David:_Monsanto's_Legal_Battles_against_Farmers

http://nelsonfarm.net/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/26/eveningnews/main4048288.shtml

So much for a free market...

- Dan.

Bad day for scientific research? No. It's set back of limited duration.
Is GM food "bad"? Dunno, jury's still out on that and it really depends which camp you want to listen to.
Is the licensing and patenting of GM crops bad? Oh hell yes. The goal of "crop lock-in" is real, demonstrated and rather scary IMO.
Would this be a good time to discuss licensing or policies to halt this type of corporate behavior? Definitely. In fact it's so long overdue we may have passed the tipping point five years ago.

For your consideration:
Haitian rice
Monsanto Lawsuit / canola
Monsanto Lawsuit / soybeans
Patented disease
University gene patents

I think that this imbroglio underscores the need to limit or do away with gene patents, as there is little chance that the men in white coats (or the ones in black suits that pay them) will stop their tinkering, and I'm not sure that it needs to stop.

1. http://www.organicconsumers.org/Monsanto/farmerssued.cfm
2. http://nelsonfarm.net/

Farmers saving soybean seeds in violation of contract. NOT accidental contamination.

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto_Canada_Inc._v._Schmeiser

Schmeiser sprayed his Canola with Roundup to select for resistance, saved the seed from the resistant crop and then planted the seed. His Canola was found to be 98% roundup resistant.

Nothing accidental there either.

You have provided no citations of farmers being sued by Monsanto for having accidentally contaminated crops. As I said, that is an urban myth.

They also sue if your non-GM crop is contaminated by another's GM crop.
No, they don't. All of the companies and governments involved clearly say that a certain amount of crossbreeding is inevitable, and not a cause for legal action.

First, Monsanto did claim their GE crops will not cross breed years ago. It was only after it was proven crossbreeding does happened that they stopped making the claim. Secondly, many farmers have either been sued or themselves sued GE companies. Monsanto regularly sends out private investigators, Pinkertons, to collect specimens to test for GE genes. They even threatened someone who's neither a farmer nor a seed dealer. Despite having no evidence, and the State of North Dakota Seed Arbitration Board not having found any themselves, Monsanto still threatens a farming family in North Dakota.

You did not sign a contract but you're sued anyway.
Yes, because you've violated someone's patent. And this isn't a Monsanto or even a GM issue - plant breeders have had legal protection for new varieties since 1930.

In other words if your crop is contaminated, which does happen, you're screwed. The above links are a vary small sample of results Google returns for farmers monsanto. Adding sue still leaves more than a million results. Like this one, Agricultural Giant Battles Small Farmers:

"David Runyon and his wife Dawn put a lifetime of work into their 900-acre Indiana farm, and almost lost it all over a seed they say they never planted."

"'I don't believe any company has the right to come into someone's home and threaten their livelihood,' Dawn said, 'to bring them into such physical turmoil as this company did to us.'"

The Runyons charge bio-tech giant Monsanto sent investigators to their home unannounced, demanded years of farming records, and later threatened to sue them for patent infringement. The Runyons say an anonymous tip led Monsanto to suspect that genetically modified soybeans were growing on their property.

"'I wasn't using their products, but yet they were pounding on my door demanding information, demanding records," Dave said. "It was just plain harassment is what they were doing.'"

Or this one: Monsanto sues and sues and sues and...

Falcon

Interesting how the farmers are not the ones against Monsanto.

Except there are many farmers who oppose Monsanto, or visa versa.

1. Monsanto versus Farmers.
2. Monsanto's Harvest of Fear
3. Haitian Farmers Fight Back Against Monsanto
4. Nelson Farm - A Fight Against A Giant -- Monsanto Sues North Dakota Farmer Over Biotech Crop Dispute
5. Goliath and David: Monsanto's Legal Battles against Farmers
6. Monsanto vs. US Farmers [pdf]
7. Oregon farmers caught up in Monsanto suit over engineered alfalfa
8. Agricultural Giant Battles Small Farmers
9. Could Monsanto Be Responsible for One Indian Farmer's Death Every Thirty Minutes?
10. Monsanto watch: Targeting American farmers with lawyers, fear and money
11. 1. Falcon

The problem is that the natural gene/chromosome hopping (and the associated traits) never brought about lawsuits before. It's not like the bees in an area have read any literature saying that the corn they gathered pollen from earlier is the patented technology of XYZ corp and they should therefore not visit other plants.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/agf-fact/0153.html

What happens when the weeds and other pest plants become round-up ready as well?

Oh, and my favorite link so far http://www.nelsonfarm.net/