The Healthy Soil Act (HB 204) will be heard in the Senate Finance Committee TODAY:

If you haven’t yet, please CALL committee members NOW and encourage their support for HB 204! (The server is down, so calls only, contact info below.)

Attend the Senate Finance Committee hearing TODAY (Friday 3/8) 1:30p, Room 322, and stand in support of the Healthy Soil Act (HB 204) –please only state your name and affiliation, there is no time for lengthy comments.

Article from 2012 but informative about seed companies bought by a Monsanto affiliate and then extricating themselves:

https://nwedible.com/a-brief-history-of-monsanto-and-seed-houses-who-got-screwed/

what really happened

Territorial, Johnny’s, Fedco and most other seed houses had an established relationship with a company called Seminis. Seminis was a dominant, well-regarded independent seed company specializing in vegetable and fruit seed. They were (and remain) huge – breeding, trialed and growing out more vegetable seed than anyone else in the world. And a lot of these seeds were for vegetables varieties you probably love: golden acre cabbage, gypsy pepper, celebrity tomatoes – we’re talking quality varietals.

Monsanto bought Seminis in 2005 and left a lot of good seed houses in the awkward position of having to either find immediate alternate seed sources for the seeds Seminis was providing (which is many cases didn’t exist because Seminis was so much larger than any other seed grower) or do business with what was now, overnight, a Monsanto subsidiary.

Some companies, like Fedco, dropped all Seminis/Monsanto varieties more of less immediately. This left gaps in their seed offerings but their customer base was very supportive. (See more here.)

Many, like Territorial and Johnny’s, began to phase out their relationship with Seminis, maintaining their product inventory while beginning to seek out new seed sources that would allow them to divest of their Monsanto relationship. (See more here.)

Soil Stewards,

The Healthy Soil Act (HB 204 Small/Stansbury/Stefanics) passed the NM House of Representatives last night with strong bi-partisan support on a 48 to 6 vote! It’s been heartwarming to see such unity, among the legislators and within the agricultural community.

Next, the bill goes to the Senate Finance Committee! Please reach out respectfully to committee members and encourage their support for HB 204! See contact info below.

Thank you so much for all your support! Almost there!