Evidence? A smoking gun in this case would be pretty difficult to find unless there are leaked emails or documents showing pressure from suppliers. If Dell is smart about this, they will not come out and say anything inflammatory. In the end the reasoning behind the decision is not even that important.
Personally, I thought it was just a matter of time, as this was primarily a marketing experiment to cash in on a perceived hot commodity (Linux).
As a patent attorney who deals with the PTO on a daily basis, you should already know that many worse patents have already been approved. This particular article may be old news, but that does not negate the fact that Monsanto already has quite a few questionable and frightening patents.
Their attempt to patent a pig is reason enough to get pissed and discuss it, even if it is "old news".
Innovation in the agriculture industry is fine. This has nothing whatsoever to do with innovation. Quite the opposite.
"Do only evil."
So far they're on track.
No amount of careful planning will ever replace dumb luck.