Interim Syngenta Settlement Payments Begin

March 18, 2020 | Kristine Tidgren

Eligible producers and crop share landlords should finally begin receiving interim payments from the Syngenta settlement this month. On February 28, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas authorized the claims administrator to make interim payments to class members that have:

  1. Received a Notice of Determination that has not been appealed and the time to appeal has expired; and
  2. Submitted all required payment documents, including W-9 forms and Representative Claimant documents, if applicable.

Payment Process

The interim payment process is describe in court filings as follows:

  1. Producers and Landlords whose estimated total payment exceeds $75 will receive approximately 65% of their estimated final payment amount.
  2. Grain Handling Facilities and Ethanol Production Facilities whose estimated total payment exceeds $75 will receive approximately 50% of their estimated final payment amount.

Claims that meet the criteria for receiving interim payments but that have an estimated total payment of $75 or less will not receive an interim payment. The total award for these claims will be paid when the claims administrator issues final payments. After all claims processing is complete and final dollar amounts are determined, the claims administrator will make final payments to claimants. These final payments are expected to issue in the fall of 2020.

Those claimants who have received a Notice of Determination but have not yet submitted a W-9 form, should submit one immediately. Payment will not be issued unless the W-9 is submitted. The claims administrator recommends uploading the form on the www.cornseedsettlement.com page.

Information about Claims

declaration by the claims administrator attached to the motion to make interim payments includes helpful information:

  • 246,038 claims have been submitted to the claims administrator as of February 6, 2020.
  • 46,076 of these claims were "Administratively Closed," meaning they were not eligible for payment.
  • The remaining 199,962 claims are active.
  • 176,498 claims are eligible for payment under the Settlement Agreement and have received Notices of Determination that explain the Compensable Recovery Quantity and the appeal process.
  • 503 claims were rejected.
  • 22,961 are under review.

After adjustments, the claims administrator is estimating that the dollar value of each compensable recovery quantity will be no less than(a) $0.1222 for Eligible Claims in Subclass 1; (b) $0.0194 for Eligible Claims in Subclass 2; (c)$0.0043 for Eligible Claims in Subclass 3; and (d)$0.4402 for Eligible Claims in Subclass 4.

Producers and crop share landlords that did not plant Duracade or Viptura seed are included in Subclass 1.

File that W-9 and we will keep you posted!