Seed - Part 2

The consolidation of patents have led to a vastly different landscape from when my dad bought his farm in the early 1980s to now.

“By 2002, 95% of patents originally held by seed or small ag-biotech firms had been acquired by large chemical or multinational corporations. By the end of the 2010s, globally, Corteva, Bayer, and ChemChina gained control over an estimated 50-60% of seed and agrochemicals sales when they consolidated.”

This left no diversity in the marketplace for farmers to look elsewhere. These companies gained vast control over what is planted and sprayed on our farms. Gone were the days when farmers had much choice on how to run their operation. I felt this as my farming career started and ended, where I felt stuck within a system.

“The global agrochemical market saw even greater concentration, with ChemChina (24.6%), Bayer (16%), BASF (11.3%), and Corteva (10.4%) controlling over 62% of sales. In the United States, the 2017-2018 mergers gave the four largest firms control over approximately 70% of the soybean seed market, 80% of the corn seed market, and 90% of the cotton seed market and consolidated almost the entirety of the domestic crop-protection business (85-90%) within the 10 largest firms. In seed genetics, Bayer-Monsanto and BASF alone now likely hold around 90% of trait acres for corn, soybeans, and cotton in the United States.”

Three companies mostly control the seeds which are planted on a substantial number of United States farms. This is not good for farmers and society. This lack of resilience and leaving power in the hands of so few companies can lead to disastrous results like leaving the food supply reliant on companies driven by the stock market. They are not worried about their societal impacts and the hollowing out of the towns which fewer and fewer farmers’ support.

Due to the patents and concentration in the seed and agrochemical market, nothing will get better until there is competition. The issues will continually get worse.

I’m guessing these are either Bayer or Pioneer produced soybeans. Photo by Meredith Petrick on Unsplash

“Consolidation in the industry has also likely resulted in less R&D expenditure, reflecting less need for innovation and fewer choices for farmers when seeking to source seeds. Reflecting on these dynamics, a Deloitte report on the agrochemicals industry recently predicted that “‘capturing’ rather than ‘selling’ value might more likely describe the strategic maneuvers that [sector incumbents] make” going forward.”

These large corporations are not even trying to help farmers and food security. They lack innovation but have the market power to withstand new competition.

“As the Big Four also aggressively protect their IP rights, they are imposing more restrictions on how seed is used and exchanged, including for seed saving and research purposes. These restrictions affect conventional and organic agriculture alike by making a large pool of plant genetics inaccessible to public researchers, farmers, and independent breeders. That, in turn, limits the diversity of seed in our landscapes and marketplace and further weakens our food security.”

Without the government trying to force these companies to compete, expect more of the same. Enforcing antitrust laws and breaking up these large corporations will slow the consolidation and hollowing out of rural America. If these four firms stay big, it will exponentially continue to hurt Americans from the countryside to the city.

Coming back to my experience, I had no leverage when buying seeds. I was a small farmer, and I could not use my market power to demand lower seed cost. At this point, I need the government to help me and most other farmers to have a fair shot when bargaining with the prices of these large corporations. I do not blame my seed dealer. He took the marching orders.

These Big Four firms milked farmers for everything they got, and they will keep trying. They do not care about keeping a fifth-generation farmer on the land. These companies only care about keeping the shareholders happy. They know by getting farmers attached to certain brands they stop farmers from fighting back against these monopolistic companies. This way they continue to drain the wealth from farmers and families in rural communities.

Until antitrust laws are enforced and their market power is taken seriously, these Big Four companies will not stop. Farmers and Americans need patent reform, these companies “competing” for the farmers attention, and many more issues to be resolved. This will enable farmers to take back power from these untamed animals, which are the seed and chemical companies. At this point, farmers will not have to be seed dealers, truck drivers, or whatever else they need to be to grow a seed to help feed the world.

*All quoted pieces are coming from the same Farm Action report