high-speed planters

Monsanto, the world’s largest seed and ag chemical company, said it has agreed to sell its seed-planter business to farm-equipment maker AGCO. A 2015 deal to sell its Precision Planting unit to Deere and Co. fell apart in the face of an antitrust suit filed by the Justice Department.

The world's largest seed company, Monsanto, said it terminated its November 2015 deal to sell Precision Planting to Deere and Co., the world's largest farm-equipment maker, and was looking for another purchaser. The Justice Department filed an antitrust suit against the sale to Deere, saying it would dominate the market for high-speed planters, which are expected to become the industry standard.

When the Justice Department filed suit to block Deere & Company, the largest farm equipment maker in the world, from buying Precision Planting, owned by seed giant Monsanto, it said it was trying to preserve competition in sales of high-speed planters. One of Deere's competitors, Kinze Manufacturing, claims Deere may be using the lawsuit to seek access to Kinze's trade secrets.

The Justice Department, which filed an anti-trust suit to prevent Deere & Co. from buying Precision Planting, recently telephoned farmers in the Midwest to ask about the market dynamics for high-speed planters, says DTN.