Greenpeace Lyng GM maize action

Walnut Tree Farm was an area of farmland on the outskirts of Lyng, Norfolk, owned by the Brigham family of William, Eddie and John Brigham, who had been a farming family for almost 300 years. William owned Walnut Tree Farm, was the eldest member of the family, and was the former chair of the Norfolk National Farmers' Union (NFU). William had accepted a trial of GM maize by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE) on behalf of the UK Government, the biotechnology industry, English Nature, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, as part of a four-year farm-scale government trial of various GM crops over seven plots of land, including experimental T25 maize made by the Norfolk agro-chemical company AgrEvo.[2][3][4][5] The maize was modified to be more tolerant to the ArgEvo Liberty pesticide, as well as more resistant to insect damage,[2][5] making it a potential alternative to pesticides that featured atrazine.[6] The Lyng crop was planted in May 1999,[7] covered a 2.4 hectare field of maize,[1] and was expected to flower in August before being harvested in October.[7] Brigham surrounded the crop with a 300 metre gap to prevent contamination, which was more than the ITE reccomendation of 100 metres.[4]

The action was one of the 30 GM crop destructions that had also occurred in the UK in the past 15 months, from which 60 people were arrested and 3 were remanded. 3 of the 7 large-scale trials of GM crops in the UK were cut down by protesters.[8] Earlier actions included the full destruction of a field of GM potatoes outside Cambridge in December 1997, during which activists engaged in a game of cricket and used the potatoes as cricket balls. Also that month, Human Genome Project members painted a large X across a rapeseed farm in Scotland, and demonstrators pulled up a crop of spring wheat in Lincolnshire.[9] Four activists from the small group Genetix Snowball uprooted 200 rapeseed plants being grown by Monsanto at a farm in Watlington, Oxfordshire in 1998.[4]

William Brigham had given an interview to the Eastern Daily Press about the AgrEvo deal, which prompted villagers in Lyng to hold a public meeting about the crop trial at its village hall. Brigham received a letter inviting him to the discussion but did not attend, under advice from AgrEvo.[10][7] Lyng villagers would later state after the incident that the brothers had "consulted no one" before beginning the trial.[5] The environmental organisation Greenpeace had already been opposed to the use of GM maize at the time, with Peter Mond, 4th Baron Melchett, former Labour minister, Norfolk farmer, and executive director of the organisation, being particularly vocal and attending the meeting himself.[1][10][4] He was described by a meeting organiser as "very persuasive."[4] Melchett later wrote to Brigham, asking him to discontinue the trial. Brigham gave another interview to Farmers Weekly shortly after the letter, and said that the maize was due to flower within a week, prompting local Greenpeace activists to begin planning for the protest,[10] though the international branch of Greenpeace was reportedly opposed to the action.[4] Trials of T25 maize had been banned in Switzerland weeks earlier, further persuading Melchett to take action.[4] After the protest, Melchett would state that "it was vital that the crop was removed before it flowered, spreading GM pollution. Locals had urged the government to destroy the crop. The authorities are not taking the correct action and unfortunately it has fallen to Greenpeace to protect everyone's interests."[8]

13 of the 27 protesters taking part in the action aside from Melchett were volunteers in Greenpeace's public membership.[11][8] They came from various parts of the UK, including London and its home counties, Cardiff, Manchester, Aberdeen, Yorkshire, and Leicestershire, as well as Norfolk itself.[12] Of the 28 total, there were 19 men and 9 women,[10] all between the ages of 21 and 57.[3] Protestors aside from Melchett included a vicar and a beauty consultant,[1] as well as a Baptist minister,[13] a vegan and vegetarian restaurateur, an engineer, and a mature student studying social policy and environmental science.[14] Michael Uwins, Greenpeace's East of England co-ordinator, lived nearby to Lyng, and was summoned to London on a need to know basis in the summer of 1999 to organise the action. Uwins later stated in 2020 that he was told by organisers that their likelihood of arrest was "100%".[1]

Before dawn on 26 July 1999,[1] Melchett drove a wagon with an industrial crop cutter attached from his family farm in Ringstead, Norfolk to Lyng. The other 27 activists mostly traveled to Lyng from London in two minibuses. They met at a rendezvous at 5 a.m. outside the GM field of Walnut Tree Farm, and waited behind a hedge.[13]

At 5:09 a.m., the group of Greenpeace volunteers, dressed in white boilersuits with the Greenpeace logo on the back, led by Melchett and accompanied by four journalists and a cameraman, cut the padlock to the field gate.[5][2][10] They drove a tractor, the crop cutter equipped with 4 ft blades, and a tipper truck into the field, blocked the inside of the field entrance with the truck,[5][10][1] and re-padlocked the gate.[13] The activists began pulling and cutting down the maize planted on the field, using their machinery as well as strimmers.[5]

Farm owner William Brigham interrupted the demonstration at 5:25, calling one activist a "criminal." Activists began loading the cut crop into bags and putting them onto the 7.5 ton truck.[7][5] Melchett later stated in court that the group intended to "remove the entire crop," and to return it to its owner, AgrEvo, in King's Lynn.[10] Melchett came to speak to Brigham, arguing that "we're just doing what people want," and that the maize was about to flower and pollute nearby crops. Brigham argued that he also had local support.[5] At 5:28, Eddie Brigham arrived on a tractor with a bucket attached, and rammed through the barred gate to the field. He proceeded to ram the truck blocking the entrance to get his tractor into the field, then chased various Greenpeace protesters, causing them to flee further into the crop. He cornered and rammed the Greenpeace industrial crop cutter, and used the tractor's bucket to immobilise its rotors.[5] Greenpeace's members were reduced only to manual labour, with all of their vehicles incapacitated.[13]

At 5:33, police arrived at the scene, and shouted at those involved to "stop it. All of you," which was not obeyed by either party. Stating that "you've made your political points. I'd rather you stopped," the police began to arrest the protesters. John Brigham drove into the field on a Massey Ferguson tractor, which also had a bucket. More police arrived by 5:40, and arrested some of the volunteers. They did not resist arrest and were led out of the field. Melchett was also escorted out of the field by a police officer, after stating that they were enacting "decontamination of the countryside," and that they were "doing something which the public wants and is for the benefit of the environment."[5] William Brigham chanted "Melshit. Melshit," as Melchett was escorted past him.[5][2]

Speaking to Guardian journalist John Vidal at the scene, William stated that he found it "amazing that a man who calls himself a democrat and is a former government minister sees fit to take the law into his own hands," and argued that he himself had been growing the genetically modified crop for environmental reasons, as he said he had used the crops with the more "friendly" Liberty herbicide produced by AgrEvo.[5]

John Brigham drove his tractor out of the field, and rammed one of the two Greenpeace vans that were parked outside it, before chasing one of the volunteers around the field, eventually relenting.[5] Greenpeace volunteers were made to sit in the field by the police.[5] The Brigham brothers were also restrained by the police, and William stated that "this has nothing to do with genetically modified organisms - it's whether we want democratic government in this country or anarchy." 28 people were arrested and taken to police stations around Norfolk.[8] John Brigham collapsed later in the day due to stress, and was taken to hospital. He was later discharged.[5]

The Guardian estimated that only a sixth of the field had been cut down by the end of the altercation.[13] An AgrEvo spokesman accused the protesters of trespass and vandalism, and of denying the public the opportunity to observe whether GM crops were safe. Greenpeace also accused AgrEvo of planning to increase its GM plantings for the year 2000.[5] It was found that Greenpeace had caused around £650-£750 of damage, and that the Brigham brothers, who were not charged, had caused about £5,000 of damage to the vehicles owned by Greenpeace.[13][8]