Agribusiness giant Syngenta now faces lawsuits from farmers in 11 states claiming the seed and chemical company’s sale of a genetically engineered corn that was delayed approval in China depressed market prices for corn.

At issue is Syngenta’s 2009 release and distribution of its genetically modified corn known as Agrisure Viptera, which is engineered to fend off certain insects known to decimate corn crops.

The problem is that China, the third-largest customer of American corn, did not approve imports of Viptera until December. In the meantime, farmers were unable to export corn to China. Prices plummeted, costing the industry billions. Last November, China began rejecting U.S. corn exports based on the existence of Viptera, leading to more than $1 billion in damages for U.S. farmers.

The specific type of corn, Agrisure Viptera, had not been approved by China. The rejection of the corn led to a drop in grain and soybean futures, and a three-year low for the price of corn at the Chicago Board of Trade amid concerns that China was going to limit not just corn but all agriculture imports.

Biotech company, Syngenta, which rivals Monsanto for a share of the genetically modified food market, is based in Switzerland, but also has operations in Iowa. The company started asking China to approve imports of their GMO corn seed back in 2010. That same year, the United States approved the seed and a small percentage of corn farmers planted it.

But over 1.45 million metric tons of American corn was reportedly tainted with trace amounts of the GMO seed because nearly all corn is stored and transported on shared equipment.

Syngenta is accused of negligence for allegedly recklessly and aggressively marketing Viptera. They are also accused of misleading farmers about the future approval of GMO corn in China. Farmers claim Syngenta knew, or should have known, about the risk, but chose to gamble with the livelihood of farmers who did not even plant the seed.

In December, federal judges created a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in federal court in Kansas to centralize the Syngenta lawsuits. As of Jan. 15, Judge John W. Lungstrum oversaw about 220 lawsuits involving economic losses allegedly caused by GMO corn. Nearly two dozen Syngenta corn class actions lawsuits have been filed against Syngenta.