2-25 IAN Monsanto Bully
COMPETITION AND INNOVATION IN AG SUFFERING
Last spring - the Departments of Justice and Agriculture hosted joint workshops across the country to examine the issue of competition in agriculture. These events coincided with Attorneys General from nine states launching investigations into Monsanto for issues ranging from antitrust violations to false advertising. The results weren’t pretty for Monsanto who is depicted as something of a corporate bully.
As global seed prices continue to rise - the call for intervention is mounting. Americans for Job Security - an independent, bi-partisan advocacy organization - says it is hopeful the investigations will continue. Americans for Job Security’s Stephen DeMaura explains their concerns:
“Monsanto is acting as one of the biggest roadblocks to agricultural innovation. While we agree that vendors should be entitled to rewards obtained through intellectual property, there’s evidence that Monsanto has taken the idea of intellectual property too far. Densely worded licensing agreements, independent seed suppliers, and other ag bio-tech companies are blocking technological innovations in ag bio-tech trade from coming to market. By attempting to extend a dominant control over the market, Monsanto is slowing the pace of future innovation and hindering advances in ag productivity and efficiency”
