Category: Seed Concentration

DOJ Approval of Bayer-Monsanto Mega-Merger Hangs Farmers Out to Dry

OCM Staff

PRESS STATEMENT Tuesday, May 29, 2018 DOJ Approval of Bayer-Monsanto Mega-Merger Hangs Farmers Out to Dry Today, the U.S. Department of Justice approved the mega-merger of Bayer AG and Monsanto Co. The Organization for Competitive Markets, which has fought on behalf of U.S. family farmers to block the mega-merger, issued the following statement: “Today’s news makes it clear that our anti-monopoly laws and the U.S. Department of Justice merger review process are ineffective. Economists have well established that there Read More …

The Flawed European Remedy to Bayer-Monsanto Deal

OCM Staff

By Allen Grunes and Maurice Stucke Farmers in the United States have been battered for years by the rising costs of seeds and chemicals. It looks like things are only going to get worse. There were news reports last week that the U.S. Justice Department has reached an “agreement in principle” to give the green light to Bayer AG’s acquisition of rival Monsanto Co. Bayer is the second largest supplier of pesticides worldwide, and is an important global seed company. Monsanto is Read More …

Poll: Farmers Overwhelmingly Oppose Bayer-Monsanto Merger

OCM Staff

For Immediate Release: March 8, 2018 Contacts: Patrick Davis, Friends of the Earth, (202) 222-0744, pdavis@foe.org Angela Huffman, Organization for Competitive Markets, (614) 390-7552, ahuffman@competitivemarkets.com Poll: Farmers Overwhelmingly Oppose Bayer-Monsanto Merger  Farmers’ concerns illustrate why merger should be blocked; milder remedies unlikely to work WASHINGTON, D.C. – An overwhelming majority of surveyed farmers are concerned about the proposed Bayer-Monsanto merger and believe it will have a negative impact on independent farmers and farming communities, a poll released today Read More …

Have You Been Affected by Large Agribusiness Mergers? Take This Quick Survey

OCM Staff

The last year and half has brought many changes to the farming community. One of the biggest has been the wave of mergers sweeping through the major corporations many farmers rely upon for seeds and chemicals. Two major mergers have been completed (Dow & DuPont and Syngenta & ChemChina). One more is still pending: Monsanto & Bayer. The U.S. Department of Justice and many state Attorneys General are reviewing that merger and looking for farmer input. Now is your Read More …

Could the Bayer-Monsanto merger put the U.S. seed supply under Chinese control?

OCM Staff

Much has already been said by Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and others about the food security threat posed by the pending mega-merger of Bayer AG and Monsanto Co. The combined company would have unprecedented control of big data and access to patents, gene traits and intellectual property. It would become the world’s largest agribusiness company, with a virtual lock on the seed for corn, soybeans, cotton, canola, and wheat. It would have the ability to further dominate Read More …

Agriculture giants Bayer, Monsanto merging could ruin American farmers

OCM Staff

By John W. Boyd, Jr. and Mike Weaver This article first appeared in The Hill. Earlier this year, we planted our crops — soybeans, corn, and wheat — and began feeding our spring chickens. Farmers like us have been doing this for generations. But next year, when we turn to our spring tasks again, the entire farming economy will have shifted under our feet as a result of a merger wave currently underway among the world’s agricultural giants. They Read More …

Over 300 food and farm groups urge Jeff Sessions to oppose agricultural mega-mergers

OCM Staff

For Immediate Release: February 13, 2017 (Washington, D.C.)— Nearly 325 farming, beekeeping, farmworker, religious, food safety, and conservation advocacy groups today urged the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a thorough investigation into the proposed mergers of the world’s largest agrochemical and seed companies. Groups urged Jeff Sessions, the new Attorney General, to enjoin the mergers of Dow Chemical with DuPont, Monsanto with Bayer AG, and Syngenta with ChemChina on the grounds that they will drive up food Read More …

Monsanto’s growing monopoly

Mike Callicrate

What the Supreme Court got wrong: Patents on self-replicating seed are unethical, dangerous and anti-competitive By Kristina Hubbard A still from a Monsanto ad When the Supreme Court unanimously sided with Monsanto recently, it upheld the company’s right to prohibit the replanting of patented seed – handing the biotech giant a major victory. The court ruled that the doctrine of “patent exhaustion,” which an Indiana farmer argued should apply after the first sale of patented seed, “does not Read More …