© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Bayer Reaches Deal To Purchase Monsanto

wikipedia.org

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer has reached an agreement to buy St. Louis-based Monsanto, the global powerhouse in genetically engineered seeds. Harvest Public Media’s Amy Mayer reports on what that means for Midwest farmers.

The merger is the third pairing of top seed and chemical companies in less than a year. Phil Howard of Michigan State University says slower sales in recent years have pushed the companies to consolidate, and he says bigger firms wield more political power.

"In the short term there are not going to be dramatic differences for farmers, but in the longer term, we’re going to find policy changes shaped by these bigger firms that are going to increase prices for farmers and consumers," he says.

Howard says big companies also tend to dampen innovation.

Amy Mayer is a reporter based in Ames. She covers agriculture and is part of the Harvest Public Media collaboration. Amy worked as an independent producer for many years and also previously had stints as weekend news host and reporter at WFCR in Amherst, Massachusetts and as a reporter and host/producer of a weekly call-in health show at KUAC in Fairbanks, Alaska. Amy’s work has earned awards from SPJ, the Alaska Press Club and the Massachusetts/Rhode Island AP. Her stories have aired on NPR news programs such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition and on Only A Game, Marketplace and Living on Earth. She produced the 2011 documentary Peace Corps Voices, which aired in over 160 communities across the country and has written for The New York Times, Boston Globe, Real Simple and other print outlets. Amy served on the board of directors of the Association of Independents in Radio from 2008-2015.