By Ryan Hanrahan
The Wall Street Journal’s Elias Schisgall reported that “the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Agriculture have launched a probe into potential anticompetitive practices in the agricultural equipment markets, sending shares for farming machine makers lower.”
“The regulators on Wednesday said they opened a joint public inquiry seeking information into the manufacturing and distribution markets for agricultural equipment amid a growing number of complaints to the USDA,” Schisgall reported. “They invited comments from the public, saying farmers across the country are facing barriers to acquiring agricultural equipment and the services required to keep the equipment operating.”
Progressive Farmer’s Todd Neeley reported that “the federal agencies said they want to address the ‘growing number of complaints’ received by USDA that ‘farmers across the country face other barriers’ to acquiring equipment, the FTC and USDA said on Wednesday.”
“The request for information is part of what the agencies describe as their attempt to preserve competition in agriculture,” Neeley reported. “The agencies said they specifically want to know whether ag equipment manufacturers and dealers are restricting competition and, if so, how that might be affecting farmers, independent repair shops and rural economies.”
Source : illinois.edu