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.