Bayer Monsanto Merger Serious Concern For Canola Farmers: Associations Joint Statemen

[grassfarmer]

Here is the NFU press release on the subject:

"Media Release: Bayer-Monsanto deal latest in agribusiness merger and acquisition trend

(Saskatoon - Sept. 19, 2016) Bayer’s September 14 announcement that it will buy Monsanto for $66 billion comes just days after fertilizer companies PotashCorp and Agrium confirmed their $30 billion dollar merger deal. Meanwhile, the Chinese agro-chemical giant, ChemChina is in the process of buying Sygenta for $43 billion. Dupont and Dow expect to complete their $68 billion merger by the end of this year.

“Mergers and acquisitions are not investments in new productive capacity,” said Terry Boehm, Chair of the NFU’s Seed and Trade Committee. “These transactions are a way for large corporations to restructure their existing assets to obtain higher profits and greater control by eliminating competition within the market.”

Conventional economic theory assumes competition in the marketplace pushes competitors to constant improvement, usually making their products ever more cheaply. Consumers choose the competing option that offers them the best combination of price and quality. Producers look for buyers who will pay them the best price for the product they are selling. The theory hinges on the belief that all operate with full transparency on a level playing field and thus the common good is served.

Yet in the real world, some competitors do better than others. As the most competitive companies get bigger, smaller rivals are bought up or go out of business. With fewer firms there is less competition in the sector. Eventually consolidation results in the sector dominated by a small handful of companies that no longer need to be so concerned about price, quality or service. To do business, buyers and sellers must meet these companies’ terms. If the impending mergers go ahead, the seed and farm chemical sectors will have reached this point.

If national anti-trust and competition bureau regulators allow the Bayer-Monsanto, ChemChina-Syngenta and Dow-Dupont deals to proceed, just three companies will control 61% of the world’s commercial seed sales and 65% of the world’s pesticide sales. The shareholders of these companies have vast amounts of money that they can use to buy out other companies. Meanwhile, both consumers’ and farmers’ debt levels are at record highs. The degree of control over agricultural production and the ability to extract wealth from farmers and consumers these companies would gain through these deals should ring alarm bells.

“When one multinational agribusiness swallows another, it increases its lobbying power along with its market share,” noted Jan Slomp, NFU President. “These mergers make it all the more important for the people of the world to stop trade agreements like CETA and the TTP that tie the hands of governments to regulate in the public interest.”

“The companies involved in these mergers have been increasing their control over agricultural production, especially seed, for a long time. By controlling seed, you control the food system,” said Boehm. “When you control the food, ultimately you control people. Should this kind of power be in the hands of so few?”

- 30 –

For more information:

Terry Boehm, Chair of NFU Seed and Trade Committee: (306) 255-2880 or (306) 255-7638
Jan Slomp, NFU President: (250) 898-8223 or (403) 704-4364"

[bucket]

Not one of these deals should be allowed if there was such a thing as a competition bureau.


But the people that allow these things to happen are morally corrupt and easily bought off.


Guys like David Anderson will champion their cause.....like he did with the grain cos. ...

And just to add fuel to it all....the Saudis as well...

[ErgotErnie]

Hey tweety if you worked your a$$ of and got out of bed at 5 in the morning and took some risk in life you could drive a 70,000 dollar truck also. Or are you a ndp voter and just expect one cause you go to work everyday?

[sawfly1]

these businesses are not evil. they are just doing what they can get away with.

if govt.s allow you to usurp age old patent laws with licence use agreements.
so now seed patents now never expire.

if your industry group (crop life Canada) can build a regulatory wall so that old off patent chems that are cheaper than dish soap in the rest of the world. can't get here or if they do only thru their hands.
they will.

if they can the govt. to block farmers treating their own canola seed.
they will.

while farmers can still treat their other crops, or at least until it does not suit their purpose.

and with govt. help , which is when public varieties are gone.

then it will not be safe for us to do cereals and pulses ether.

not that china would treat us any better if they could get away with it.

but the fact that our govt.s (mostly conservative) which pretend to be about markets and free trade
have helped build these monopoly's / cartels every step of the way.


any way you look at it is market manipulation on a huge scale.
fleecing the farmer the consumer , the land lord , and tax revenues.



just imagine what our wheat or canola would be worth if govt. did not allow the consumer to get it from any one else. 15$/ lb
but that would be like communism , right.

[tweety]

New traits should come out faster and better. Now maybe after 30 or more years we will see something other then glyphosate and glufosinate.

The only one stifling anything will be the grower groups.

[ALBERTAFARMER4]

If this goes through they might as well just buy Richardson, Viterra, John Deere, and CNH.

[sawfly1]

pretty soon they will not need to come out with anything new at all.

with all the old seed locked up. and public breeding dead.

they can extract every possible $ from whatever they are peddling now.

no need for new stuff. (what else are you gonna plant)

the only thing that spurred innovation before , was that eventually patents expired.
so much for that now