A fake press release was issued alleging that Monsanto had received a permit to plant 250,000 hectares of GM corn in Northern Mexico. The release was the work of a group of international students and activists calling themselves "Sin Maíz No Hay Vida" ("Without Corn There Is No Life"). Besides spreading misinformation about the permit, the group's release falsely announced a digital repository of Mexican customs allegedly endangered by GM corn. They also announced a fictitious Monsanto "vault" to store all the native varieties of corn that GM varieties would supposedly render unviable.

"The action of the group is fundamentally misleading," said Janet M. Holloway, Chief of Community Relations for Monsanto. "The initiatives they put forth are unfeasible, and their list of demands is peppered with hyperbolic buzzwords like 'sustainability,' 'culture,' and 'biodiversity.'"

For more, see Monsanto Denounces “Activists” For Hoax Release

More from Western Farm Press

Water the commodity gold of 21st century?

Resiliency of growers shines with record crop values

Hahn's reinvents Central Coast wine-grape business

Central Coast grape growers want new water district

Conventional grower inherits puncturevine, mites from organic grower