JACKSON - Seed manufacturer Delta and Pine Land has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to dismiss claims brought by seven cotton farmers who complained of a poor harvest in 1999.
The farmers claimed the D&PL seed they planted was defective. D&PL argued the farmers failed to follow administrative remedies required by before they filed suit.
The farmers filed suit in Holmes County Circuit Court. D&PL appealed from the trial court, challenging those farmers who had not filed arbitration claims under the Mississippi Seed Act.
D&PL attorney Steve Thomas of Jackson said the Seed Act requires farmers with complaints to first go to an arbitration board. If dissatisfied with the board's decision, then the farmers can sue.
"They were barred from bringing the suit because they failed to comply with the administrative procedure," Thomas said.
He said the issue before the Supreme Court is whether the farmers can be allowed to pursue a lawsuit when they didn't comply with the law.
Thomas said the law requires a timely notification of a dispute. He said the plaintiffs waited until nearly three years after the 1999 harvest to file the lawsuit.
He said the law also requires D&PL to keep seed samples and germination records for two years.
"The purpose of all of this is trying to maintain a level playing field when you're dealing with an agricultural crop because the evidence is gone at harvest," Thomas said. "They wait three years when they know Delta and Pine Land no longer has their germination records and certainly does not have a viable seed sample."
Thomas said the issue is how the seed grows based on what the label says it will do.
"The heart of the Seed Act is the failure of the seed to perform as labeled. You didn't get the yield you expected; that is a performance claim," he said.
Mitch Tyner of Jackson, who represented the farmers, said the complaint had nothing to do with whether the seed came out of the ground or whether it performed as the label said. The farmers' complaint was they had defective seed, he said.
"Germination is when the seed begins to grow," Tyner said. "The whole problem with this and the reason it was so widespread in the Delta is that it did germinate.
"The plant grew but many of the bolls didn't open and the yields were awful. It cost them millions because of the failure of the seed to produce as it was supposed to," Tyner said.
He said the only requirement for arbitration under state law was a label violation.
Tyner said the farmers did not claim a label violation.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
