Whatever the outcome, the case shows why Monsanto is so detested in farm country, even by those who buy its products. "I don't know of a company that chooses to sue its own customer base," says Joseph Mendelson, of the Center for Food Safety. "It's a very bizarre business strategy." But it's one that Monsanto manages to get away with, because increasingly it's the dominant vendor in town.

I know other companies that sues its customers, they all deal with intellectual enclosure. "Intellectual property" is their fancy brand name, but what it amounts to is old fashioned monopolies. We might not recognise it as it is the monopoly right to one particular seed (patent) or one particular song (copyright), but with increasing numbers of monopoly rights held by a decreasing number of companies we are heading towards one company controlling food, another controlling culture, a third one computer programs and so on. And their lobbying for ever increasing lengths and scopes of their rights is intense. Corporate surveilliance rights is often needed to make sure no one avoids paying their dues. A boss from the Honourable East India Company would recognise their business models and feel right at home.

Monsanto's Harvest of Fear: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com

The company has a staff devoted to enforcing patents and litigating against farmers. To gather leads, the company maintains an 800 number and encourages farmers to inform on other farmers they think may be engaging in "seed piracy."

If you oppose you are a pirate, so if you have not donned your eye patch yet, you might as well, because sooner or later you will be guilty of piracy.

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