Agrochemical settlements: 5 documented cases
Bayer's Cutter unit kept selling a riskier clotting product overseas after a safer version was sold at home. Monsanto settled the Anniston PCB case for $700 million in 2003. Syngenta settled a genetically modified corn case for about $1.51 billion in 2018. Bayer agreed in 2020 to pay up to $10.9 billion to resolve Roundup claims. In May 2026 the Justice Department secured Bayer's commitment not to restore seed-tying provisions it had removed.
By The Black Book Audit editorial · Reviewed
The short list
- Bayer's Cutter unit: the riskier product sold overseas — Cutter Biological kept selling an HIV-risk clotting product overseas after a safer version was introduced at home.
- Monsanto: the $700 million Anniston PCB settlement — Monsanto and Solutia settled the Anniston, Alabama PCB case for $700 million.
- Syngenta: the $1.51 billion corn settlement — Syngenta settled U.S. farmers' claims over Viptera corn, sold before China approved it, for about $1.51 billion.
- Roundup: up to $10.9 billion, then a push to limit lawsuits — Bayer agreed to pay up to $10.9 billion to resolve about 100,000 Roundup cancer claims, then backed state bills to limit pesticide lawsuits.
- Bayer seed contracts: a 2026 Justice Department commitment — On May 20, 2026, the Justice Department secured Bayer's commitment not to restore seed-tying and loyalty provisions it had removed.
What this list covers
This is not a complete rap sheet for the seed and pesticide industry. It is five claims already graded FACT on this site. A settlement is not a criminal conviction. Ordered by the start of the period each record covers.
The documented items below link to supporting coverage and the records used to check each claim. Leads that still need review appear separately with no evidence grade.
Prepared from the linked records and reporting. The grading method explains the difference between a documented event, an allegation, and a conclusion.
The FACT label applies to the claim printed beside it. It does not establish every theory about an operation or imply that every participant committed a crime.
The records at a glance
Select a case for its sources and limits. The order follows the dates of the programs or records described.
Swipe the table sideways to read each claim →
| Case or record | Date | What is established |
|---|---|---|
| Bayer's Cutter unit: the riskier product sold overseas | 1980s | FACT Cutter Biological kept selling an HIV-risk clotting product overseas after a safer version was introduced at home. |
| Monsanto: the $700 million Anniston PCB settlement | August 21, 2003 | FACT Monsanto and Solutia settled the Anniston, Alabama PCB case for $700 million. |
| Syngenta: the $1.51 billion corn settlement | Final approval, December 2018 | FACT Syngenta settled U.S. farmers' claims over Viptera corn, sold before China approved it, for about $1.51 billion. |
| Roundup: up to $10.9 billion, then a push to limit lawsuits | June 2020 settlement; state bills in 2025 | FACT Bayer agreed to pay up to $10.9 billion to resolve about 100,000 Roundup cancer claims, then backed state bills to limit pesticide lawsuits. |
| Bayer seed contracts: a 2026 Justice Department commitment | May 20, 2026 | FACT On May 20, 2026, the Justice Department secured Bayer's commitment not to restore seed-tying and loyalty provisions it had removed. |
Bayer's Cutter unit: the riskier product sold overseas
Cutter Biological kept selling an HIV-risk clotting product overseas after a safer version was introduced at home.
The New York Times reported on May 22, 2003, that Bayer's Cutter unit steered the riskier Factor VIII product abroad after introducing a safer version in the United States. The published investigation grades that claim as FACT.
The same investigation covers IG Farben's Buna plant and the camp built to supply it. That is a separate historical record on the linked page. This entry is the 1980s product decision.
Limit of the evidence: A documented sales decision is not a count of infections, and it is not a criminal conviction of today's Bayer executives.
Read the Bayer investigation →Monsanto: the $700 million Anniston PCB settlement
Monsanto and Solutia settled the Anniston, Alabama PCB case for $700 million.
The New York Times reported the settlement on August 21, 2003. The published investigation grades the Anniston payment as FACT. The same page covers Agent Orange manufacture and a later Nitro, West Virginia dioxin settlement. Those are not counted again here.
A settlement ends a lawsuit. It is not a trial verdict on every illness in the town.
Limit of the evidence: The $700 million figure is the settlement amount. It is not a finding that every resident was poisoned, and it is not a criminal sentence.
Read the Monsanto investigation →Syngenta: the $1.51 billion corn settlement
Syngenta settled U.S. farmers' claims over Viptera corn, sold before China approved it, for about $1.51 billion.
The published investigation grades the settlement as FACT. Final approval came in December 2018 in the federal multidistrict case in Kansas, In re Syngenta AG MIR 162 Corn Litigation. The corn had been sold ahead of Chinese import approval. Farmers said that cost them the export market.
A class settlement is not an admission of every allegation in the complaints.
Limit of the evidence: The dollar figure is the settlement. It does not establish that Syngenta intended the export loss.
Read the Syngenta investigation →Roundup: up to $10.9 billion, then a push to limit lawsuits
Bayer agreed to pay up to $10.9 billion to resolve about 100,000 Roundup cancer claims, then backed state bills to limit pesticide lawsuits.
NPR reported in June 2020 that Bayer would pay more than $10 billion to resolve current and future Roundup claims. The published investigation grades the payout, covering about 100,000 of roughly 125,000 claims then filed, as FACT. It also grades as FACT that Bayer organized the Modern Ag Alliance and backed liability-shield bills in roughly 14 states in the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
A settlement is not a finding that glyphosate causes cancer in every user. The shield bills are a legislative campaign, not a completed federal ban on lawsuits.
Limit of the evidence: The $10.9 billion figure is the company's announced resolution amount. State bills are not the same thing as a law in every state named.
- NPR: Bayer's Roundup resolution, June 24, 2020 ↗
- Investigate Midwest: the push to limit pesticide liability ↗
Bayer seed contracts: a 2026 Justice Department commitment
On May 20, 2026, the Justice Department secured Bayer's commitment not to restore seed-tying and loyalty provisions it had removed.
The Antitrust Division said Bayer CropScience had removed potentially anticompetitive provisions from its loyalty program during an investigation of corn and soybean seed markets, and committed not to reinstate them for seven years. The published seed-cartel investigation grades that commitment as FACT.
A commitment extracted during an investigation is not a trial verdict, and it is not a fine.
Limit of the evidence: Removing a contract term is not an admission that the term violated the Sherman Act.
Read the seed-cartel investigation →What we are still reviewing
These are research leads, not graded findings. Adding one requires source review and an editorial decision.
- OPEN · NOT GRADED
Paraquat and other pesticide dockets
Syngenta's paraquat litigation is on the linked investigation and is not given a separate count here until the settlement or judgment is the claim being graded.
Research starting point ↗
What these records can and cannot tell you
Is a settlement an admission of guilt?
Not by itself. These entries state the payment or the commitment and the limit of what that record proves. A settlement can end a case without a trial finding.
Does the Roundup settlement prove the weedkiller causes cancer?
No. It proves Bayer agreed to pay up to $10.9 billion to resolve about 100,000 claims. Causation in a specific illness is a different question.
Why is the pesticide-immunity page on this list?
That investigation is already published, and it is one of the few pages on this site that Google has already shown. This guide links the Roundup payout to the later effort to limit the lawsuits.