Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate’s only grain farmer, led a committee hearing this morning to examine how market consolidation drives up production costs for family farmers. The hearing also touched on the high cost of fertilizer and efforts to fill in reporting gaps after the Obama administration discontinued annual reports on the fertilizer industry in 2014. Grassley’s bipartisan Fertilizer Research Act would shed light on market factors driving the cost of fertilizer, a major expense for farmers.
Witnesses at the hearing included two Iowans, Noah Coppess of Coppess Family Farms in Stanwood and John Latham of Latham Quality in Alexander. Grassley asked Coppess and Latham to discuss how market consolidation has impacted their businesses, including the number of corn and soybean varieties available to farmers.
Latham stated the percentage of a seed bag’s cost going to royalties has risen from 42% five years ago to 70% today. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service, Bayer and Corteva together account for more than half of U.S. sales of corn, soybean and cotton seed.
During the hearing, Grassley entered letters and statements from several groups into the record, including the Iowa Corn Growers Association.
Source : senate.gov