Beet Down: Court Orders Monsanto Sugar Beets to Be Destroyed

The world of genetically modified agriculture has become so contentious that a judge ordered Monsanto seedlings to be removed from the soil this week. U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White issued the ruling after Monsanto ignored his August ruling, which deemed the planting and sale of the company's "Roundup Ready" sugar beets illegal, due to insufficient environmental review from the USDA.

Genetically Modified Showdown: Monsanto Sued by Organic Farmers

Imagine if Apple tried to charge you every time you accidentally glanced at an iPhone on the street. That's basically the policy that Monsanto, an agriculture giant whose patented genes are in 95% of all soybeans and 80% of all corn grown in the U.S, enforces. The company is notorious for suing farmers that the company suspects of violating patents in even inadvertent manners. Monsanto has sued hundreds of farmers and received over $15 million from these patent-violation cases (PDF), which have included incidences of farmers being sued because pollen from nearby farmers' Monsanto-brand genetically modified crops blew over the fence onto their field. Now, finally, organic farmers are fighting back.