Today’s announcement that the proposal by Bayer AG to purchase Monsanto Co. is progressing towards an agreeable deal perpetuates the alarming trend of consolidation in agriculture. In response to the latest merger talks, National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson issued the following statement:
“A Bayer/Monsanto deal represents the latest in a wave of consolidation in the agricultural inputs sector, including the recently approved acquisition of Syngenta by ChemChina, and the proposed mergers between Dow and DuPont and Potash Corp. and Agrium. NFU will continue to express concern that these industry megadeals are being made to benefit the corporate boardroom at the expense of family farmers, ranchers, rural communities and consumers.
“Aggressive consolidation is changing the landscape for agriculture and rural communities. Specifically, the onslaught of consolidation in agricultural inputs can impair research and development efforts and create barriers for independent crop input companies as well as for independent producers at a time when low-commodity prices and high input costs are straining the farm economy. This, in turn, leads to fewer family farmers on the land, fewer innovators in the lab, and rural depopulation.
“We were pleased to see the U.S. Department of Justice file an antitrust lawsuit to prevent a proposed merger of John Deere and Precision Planting LLC., and we ask that they reject any pending and future deals that would further cripple marketplace competition.”
Source : National Farmers Union