Representatives of the Midwest Corn Lawsuit held a town hall meeting at the Gabby Goat Pub & Grill in Effingham on Wednesday. According to Sean Fagan, a lawyer participating in the lawsuit, the town hall meetings are held to raise awareness.
An organizer for lawsuit, Tom Kelly, said that Syngenta, a Swiss seed company’s, actions led to a reduction in the price of corn that harmed farmers.
The lawsuit is a Mass Tort, meaning that if a court finds Syngenta at fault for harming corn farmers each will be compensated on an individual basis. Kelly wasn’t able to provide a solid time frame for the case, but said that were hoping to have case resolved by 2018. There are 22 states represented in the lawsuit with some 50,000 farmers involved nationwide. Kelly said that around 5000 Illinois farmers had signed up to take action against Syngenta.