Monsanto says Bayer isn’t offering enough to justify a merger but that it’s open to continued talks with the German company. An official at Johns Hopkins’ Center for a Livable Future says a merger would “be a real shock to the food system” because of the potential of higher prices to farmers for seeds and agricultural chemicals in a sector undergoing consolidation, reported Marketwatch.
The leader in the genetic engineering of crops, Monsanto is the largest seed company in the world. Bayer also is a giant in seed and agricultural chemicals. Bayer told Marketwatch, “We have a commitment to transparency and open dialogue and that is how we will run the combined activities.”
The consumer group Food and Water Watch said the Justice Department should carry out an antitrust review of the merger. “Anytime companies, already giant companies, merge, they get more market share,” said a spokeswoman.
Bayer-Monsanto would control 28 percent of the world market for pesticides and would be a major source of corn and soybean seeds in the United States, said The Associated Press. Bayer says the merger would mean a broader range of products that are created to work together. That would mean higher yields for farmers, it says. Analysts told AP the impact of a merger on seed and chemical prices is impossible to determine at present.