Black farmers were intentionally sold fake seeds in Memphis, lawsuit says
Despite above average rainfall, experienced black farmers saw limited soybean yield from the Stine seeds during the 2017 harvest.
"Mother nature doesn't discriminate," President of Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association Thomas Burrell said. "It doesn't rain on white farms but not black farms. Insects don't [only] attack black farmers' land...why is it then that white farmers are buying Stine seed and their yield is 60, 70, 80, and 100 bushels of soybeans and black farmers who are using the exact same equipment with the exact same land, all of a sudden, your seeds are coming up 5, 6, and 7 bushels?"
After losing millions of dollars, the farmers took the seeds to experts at Mississippi State University to have them tested. They say the tests show the seeds sold to the black farmers were not certified Stine seeds.
The black farmers said the distributor working for Stine Seed Company used labeled certified seed backs--tampering with factory sewn seals, in order to remove the certified seeds. The distributor would then sell the fake certified seeds to black farmers at a high price.
The farmers bought more than $100,000 in soybean seeds from the distributor, plus an additional $100,000 purchase in chemicals.