Monsanto in anti-trust suit?
Did a warning shot just fly across Monsanto’s bow?
Most of the focus on the newly invigorated antitrust division of the Department of Justice has centered on the possibility that the feds are taking a hard look at Google’s domination of the online advertising market. My former colleague Farhad Manjoo does a great job of explaining why that’s not a particularly smart idea. But for the foodies, organic and family farmers, and anti-GMO activists of the world, there’s a far more provocative target at which to aim the antitrust cannon: the Roundup, GMO-corn and GMO-soybean king, Monsanto.
This is not idle speculation. On Aug. 7, Philip Weiser, a newly appointed deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division, gave an important speech in St. Louis, which just happens to be where Monsanto is based. The title of the speech: “Toward a Competition Policy Agenda for Agriculture Markets.”
Either by direct ownership or through licensing of its genetically modified traits, Monsanto may dominate as much as 90 percent of the U.S. corn and soybean seed market, to the point that farmers are complaining about the difficulties involved in simply locating non-GMO seed.
Monsanto, of course, has its defenders, who argue that any antitrust enforcement would unfairly punish the company for its successful development of innovative über-corn. Why should we care about the small farmers who can’t afford high-priced seed or are struggling to stay organic?</em>
Good news for…well everyone who eats. The notion that a single company “owns” 90% of corn and soybean seeds isn’t just insane, its potentially lethal.
