Full Answer
How much will farmers get from Syngenta settlement?
Farmers, Others Receive More Than $400 Million in Syngenta Settlement Payments.
What is Syngenta corn seed settlement program?
Class 1 will receive a minimum of $1.44 billion, with the bulk of the settlement going to corn growers and eligible landlords who did not grow Duricade or Viptera corn seeds. Class 2 will be limited to $22.6 million, Class 3 will be limited to $29.9 million, and. Class 4 will be limited to $19.5 million.
Is Syngenta corn seed settlement taxable?
Instead, they are related to market damage/loss. Thus, the settlement payments are fully taxable, and any attorney fees will not be deductible on the federal return.
Will Roundup settlements be taxed?
Do you have to pay taxes on Roundup settlement checks? No, you do not have to pay taxes on Roundup settlement checks. This is because the settlements are considered to be compensatory damages, which are not taxable.
Do you pay taxes on Roundup lawsuit?
Do You Have to Pay Taxes on Roundup Settlement Checks? No. With a few exceptions, settlements in personal injury lawsuits are not taxable as income. So you do not pay taxes on your Roundup settlement check.
Are price loss coverage payments taxable?
These payments were issued as a result of a market disruption or price loss and will be taxed as ordinary income. Government program payments are reported on lines 4a and 4b of IRS Form 1040, Schedule F.
Do farmers have to present their claim for distribution from settlement funds?
Once details of the settlement are announced, he said each farmer will be required to present their claim for distribution from settlement funds.
Is Syngenta AG settling with farmers?
Although the details are unknown about Syngenta AG's announced corn settlement with farmers in the United States, an Omaha attorney who has followed the case conducted a preliminary analysis published this week to show what the settlement could mean to producers.
Is Swanson's settlement made public?
Because the details of the settlement have not been made public, Swanson said the cents per bushel could be different. The company announced the signed settlement documents will be filed later in 2017.
When was Syngenta v. Kansas verdict?
On June 23, 2017 , at the end of a three week trial, a jury in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas issued a verdict in favor of a class of Kansas farmers against Syngenta. The jury’s Verdict Form includes the following questions and answers:
Is there a settlement with Syngenta?
Everyone interested in the farmer lawsuits against Syngenta knows about reports of a settlement between the disputing parties, achieved in the midst of a jury trial. But the settling parties aren’t saying what the details of the settlement might be. Following is an effort to gather some available information and hypothesize there from what the settlement might mean for individual farmers.
Is Syngenta going to appeal the jury verdict?
Syngenta has expressed its intention to appeal the jury verdict, but the deadline for doing so has not yet arrived.
Prior Jury Verdict
Post-Verdict Wrangling
- Since June 23, 2017, the parties in the Kansas lawsuit have been wrangling over post-trial matters, such as requests by both parties for a Court-approved plan for allocating the $217.7 million verdict amount and for scheduling additional bellwether trials for other state classes. Syngenta has expressed its intention to appeal the jury verdict, but the deadline for doing so has not yet ar…
Second Jury Trial
- Meanwhile, another bellwether trial began on September 11, 2017, in the District Court for Hennepin County, Minnesota, for a related group of farmers against Syngenta. Trial continued through the first full week and through Wednesday of the second week. Then, in a harbinger of the settlement to come, trial recessed for Thursday and Friday of that week.
Reports of Settlement
- The following Monday, September 26, news reports started circulating on a settlement of all claims of all U.S. farmers against Syngenta for a total amount between $1.4 and $1.5 billion. Nearly all U.S. corn farmers are, apparently, included in the settlement. It doesn’t make any difference whether the farmer has hired an attorney, is involved in a ...
Some Speculation
- So, we are all left to speculate on what such a settlement might mean. Speculation is always a hazardous thing. But I’m going to make an attempt, here, to pull some damages information from two expert witnesses in the Kansas trial and extrapolate from there on what the $1.4 to $1.5 settlement amount might mean. By way of emphasis, the following is, at best, an educated gues…
Expert Witness Information on Damages
- Plaintiffs in the Kansas lawsuit presented evidence on damages from two experts. One expert is Bruce A. Babcock, a Professor in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University. The other is Colin A. Carter, a Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at University of California, Davis. These two experts identify “cents per bushel market losses” and total market losses as fo…
An Allocation Order
- On September 13, 2017, the Judge, in the Kansas lawsuit entered an “Order” for developing a “Plan of Allocation of Judgment Funds.” The order provides: “If the jury’s verdict and damages award are upheld after any appeals,” then details will be developed for “the allocation” of judgment funds for distribution to Kansas farmers. The Order references expert testimony on damages and adds…
Some Assumptions
- Accordingly, it seems that settlement negotiations would utilize, as a starting point, the information provided by Professors Babcock and Carter and provisions of the allocation Order. The settlement amount [let’s call it $1.45 billion] is 36.71% of Prof. Babcock’s national class number and 30.99% of Prof. Carter’s national class number. For any particular farmer trying to e…
Hypothetical Calculations of A Net Recovery
- For illustration purposes, here’s how a hypothetical calculation of a “cents per bushel” net recovery might work, using the experts’ average “cents per bushel” loss numbers as an example:
Future Action by Farmers to Present Claims
- As to future action by each farmer to present his/her/its claim for a distribution from the settlement money, the process will, presumably, work something like this: --Once settlement documents are finalized, signed, filed and approved by all the courts involved, then farmers will be notified and will need to present their claims in writing to receive settlement funds; and --Proced…