Bourgault Files Lawsuit Alleging False Statements from PAMI & AAFC Representatives

Information Release

Date: September 3rd, 2008

Bourgault Industries Ltd. versus the Attorney-General of Canada representing Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute, Gordon Hultgreen and Dr. Guy Lafond

Bourgault Industries Ltd. has filed a lawsuit in the Court of Queen’s Bench alleging that Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), through their representatives, made false statements about Bourgault and its mid row banding system. Specifically, Bourgault is alleging that they provided inaccurate information about the seeding equipment testing that they conducted in 2000, 2001, and 2002. That testing compared mid-row and side banding seeding systems. Bourgault is claiming that when the data from these test results was properly analyzed, important agronomic differences between the two systems were revealed. When statistically comparing the emergence differences of the two systems, Dr. William Laverty, from the Mathematics and Statistics Department at the University of Saskatchewan, found that in more than 20% of the cases, there were significant differences in emergence. In all of those cases, the emergence results favored mid row banding, 100% of the time. In the analysis of 1728 plots, side banding emergence was never significantly better than mid row banding emergence. Furthermore, the research clearly revealed that mid row banding provided far superior emergence in dry conditions with the data showing that mid row banding emergence could be more than double that of side banding in those conditions. Bourgault alleges that the way the results were reported in PAMI # 761, they inappropriately minimized the risks of crop loss with the side banding system tested and down-played the advantages of the mid row banding system. It is Bourgault’s position that emergence results provide the best indication of seeding system performance. That is, emergence results provide the foundation for yield results. Although crops that emerge poorly can sometimes recover and still yield well under favorable conditions, over the long run, superior emergence results will lead to superior yield results. By avoiding any mention of the significant differences in emergence results between the two systems, Bourgault is alleging that PAMI Research Update # 761 did not show the fundamental agronomic differences between the two seeding systems. In its statement of claim, Bourgault alleges that the representatives of PAMI and AAFC knowingly withheld this information to serve the interests of manufacturers of competitive seeding systems.

The dispute originated after Bourgault published yield and emergence results that were, in fact, provided to Bourgault and its North American dealership network by agronomists from AAFC. Shortly thereafter, the representatives of PAMI and AAFC named in the lawsuit responded by making statements that were critical of Bourgault and claiming that Bourgault’s information was untrue. They also made other statements that Bourgault alleges to be false.
There are many aspects to the lawsuit; however, as is set out in the statement of claim, Bourgault is alleging that the parties named acted in bad faith by withholding relevant information on problems experienced with side banding and the advantages of mid row banding, causing major financial harm to Bourgault. However, even more importantly for the industry, Bourgault believes that the actions of the defendants have damaged the financial interests of farmers. Because there are so many variables in crop production, it is very difficult, if not impossible, for farmers to determine the root causes of emergence problems and crop losses. To make good decisions for their farms, farmers rely on scientific experts to competently conduct controlled experiments and provide accurate and unbiased scientific findings from those experiments. Because of this dependence, the failure of the named research scientists to provide accurate information has negatively impacted the entire agricultural industry. Bourgault is prepared to prove all its claims in a court of law.

Bourgault Industries Ltd.’s head office is located in St. Brieux, Saskatchewan, Canada. For more information, phone (306) 275-2300, or email bourgault@bourgault.com.