Sask. farmer who allegedly violated InVigor canola licence has appeal dismissed

Crops waiting to be harvested south of Grand Coulee, Sask. (Gareth Dillistone/CTV News)

A Saskatchewan farmer who allegedly violated his use agreement for InVigor canola has lost his bid for appeal.

Larry Mosiuk, a Kamsack-area farmer, was attempting to appeal a Court of King’s Bench decision which allowed representatives of BASF Canada Inc. onto Mosiuk’s land to collect leaf samples and test them — to determine whether the crop had been grown in violation of BASF’s rights.

According to the decision published earlier this month, Mosiuk had been growing InVigor Hybird Canola since 2013. At that time, he signed a liberty and trait agreement (LTA) with Bayer CropScience Inc.

In 2018, the LTA rights were transferred to BASF Canada Inc. The agreement prohibits producers from using seeds harvested from that crop, known as bin-run seed, to grow a second-generation (F2) crop.

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In June 2024, Mosiuk bought 12 bags of InVigor seed — enough to cover approximately 120 acres. Around the same time, BASF learned that Mosiuk may have planted an F2 crop using his bin-run seed — violating the terms of his LTA.

The company suspected that Mosiuk may have disguised the act by planting the 12 bags of InVigor around the perimeter of his field — while filling the centre of the crop with the bin-run (F2) seed.

When Mosiuk denied BASF access to his crops for testing purposes, the two sides went to court.

In July of that year, BASF commenced an action against Mosiuk and his wife for breach of contract and patent infringement. What resulted was BASF being granted access to the field and being allowed to take leaf samples to test.

During the legal proceedings, Mosiuk argued the LTA was not enforceable.

His arguments in support of his claim were that he had not read the LTA before signing it – as the seed dealer allegedly presented it to him as a mere formality, and he had received no consideration.

“I simply signed [the LTA] as I was told by staff of [the seed dealer] that it was ‘housekeeping,’” Mosiuk said during deposition, according to court documents.

BASF argued against this, saying that the agreement bore Mosiuk’s signature and was therefore enforceable.

The trial judge also found that BASF established a serious issue to be tried in terms of the LTA and patent infringement — pointing to Mosiuk’s decision to purchase a very small amount of InVigor seed.

“[The purchase] could have occurred because [Mr. Mosiuk] intended to plant InVigor seed around the perimeter of farmed land, and to plant bin-run seed to produce an F2 crop inside the perimeter. It is significant that Mosiuk has not denied planting bin-run seed,” the original decision read.

Each of the grounds for appeal that Mosiuk sought — enforceability of the LTA and the reliance on “inadmissible evidence” — were both rejected by the court.

With that decision, the court dismissed the appeal.

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