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Central Illinois | I have grown non gmo's for ADM for years and only had a little contamination issue one year with one suppliers seed. Lot's of customers had the same problem which was narrowed to the production plant and there was a story to it.
That said one time i grew clear hilum non gmo's for a company from Minnesota who was having them conditioned very close to me. Too good to be true. Between contracting and harvest the conditioner closed up. There was no close delivery point for said company. Low and behold they said my beans had dark hilum contamination. A sample to Illinois Crop Improvement came back way under industry standards but buyer wouldn't budge. I knew they were trying to ditch the bushels. A couple of friends in the grain industry suggested arbitration. Both had sat on the Grain and Feed arbitration board and said "you've got a case and least appreciated case that comes before them is an IP company stiffing a farmer on a contract".
One of those guys did say don't go it alone get an attorney and suggested one. Discussed with him--"my flat fee is $10,000. whats this worth to you?" "$21,000" "Thats a chunk but is it worth the cost and mental stress to fight and maybe get the $11,000? I guarantee you they will spend $21,000 to not have to pay you at this point."
Having been a minor party to a lawsuit when in college i learned, watching Dad battle it, that litigation is costly in multiple ways. We had little kids at the time and I didn't want to take focus away from the family and running the business without distraction. In the end i pressured the buyer with threat of suit and got $1/bu premium vs the $2.50/bu agreed to. A costly lesson but the result not really damaging to the business.
Best of luck. These situations are quite frustrating and stressful. | |
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Contaminated Non-GMO beans
