Black farmers were sold 'fake' seeds by Iowa company, Memphis-based group says

Tom Charlier | The Commercial Appeal

Show Caption Hide Caption Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association_press_conference_-_HIRES Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association discuss the lawsuit against an Iowa company over fake soybean seeds.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Black farmers, whose numbers already have dwindled precipitously over the past century, face new hardships after suffering poor yields last year because they were sold "fake" soybean seeds marketed at a Memphis trade show, members of a group representing African-American growers said Tuesday.

Leaders of the Memphis-based Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association have filed a class-action lawsuit against Stine Seed Co., the nation's largest independent seed-producer, accusing the Adel, Iowa, firm of targeting African-Americans for sales of defective seeds.

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The suit alleges that black farmers who attended the 67th Annual Mid-South Farm & Gin Show at the Memphis Cook Convention Center in March of last year bought more than $100,000 worth of Stine seeds. But the "certified" seeds the growers had paid for were switched with inferior ones at a warehouse near Sledge, Mississippi, according to the suit.

The lawsuit is the latest action by the BFAA, which also has represented some of the African-American farmers claiming widespread discriminatory practices against by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Following an initial class-action lawsuit against USDA, nearly 16,000 growers had collected settlements totaling $1.06 billion by 2011. Congress has appropriated $1.2 billion to pay for a second wave of settlements.

BFAA President Thomas Burrell said at a news conference Tuesday that the number of black farmers has dropped from nearly 1 million in 1920 to about 5,000 today largely as a result of "systemic racism." The low yields resulting from the "fake" seeds could drive more minority growers out of business, he said.

"What we are saying today is that the few remaining black farmers, who have survived drought, who have survived tariffs, who have survived all kinds of natural disasters ... are now finding themselves having to deal with the government of systemic racism by not only the Department of Agriculture, but now seed-manufacturers, seed-breeders, chemical manufacturers who now are weaponizing and have weaponized their seeds and are targeting those seeds ... toward the operations of the remaining black farmers," Burrell said.

Farmers using the seeds reported yields that were only half those from other varieties, according to the suit. At the news conference, BFAA officials distributed laboratory results from Mississippi State University showing that none of the farmers' seeds that had been submitted for testing germinated.

Myron Stine, president of Stine Seed Company, issued a statement Tuesday calling the lawsuit "without merit and factually unsupportable."

"Stine takes seriously any allegations of unlawful, improper, or discriminatory conduct and is disturbed by the baseless allegations leveled against the company. Upon learning of these claims, the company took swift action to conduct an internal investigation, which has not revealed any evidence that would support these allegations," Stine's statement read. "Stine intends to vigorously defend itself against this meritless lawsuit and has filed a motion to dismiss. Our focus is on continuing to serve all our customers with the highest degree of integrity and respect that are the bedrock of our company’s values."

Reach Tom Charlier at thomas.charlier@commercialappeal.com or 901-529-2572 and on Twitter at @thomasrcharlier.