Farm groups in Canada are voicing concerns over the latest flurry of merger and acquisitions within the agribusiness industry. Just a day after a U.S. Senate committee held a hearing on the topic, the Calgary Herald reports farm groups in Canada have similar thoughts as U.S. farm groups. Bayer AG was the latest to join the trend in its announcement last week that Bayer would purchase Monsanto for $66 billion. Farm groups in Canada are in the process of gathering comments from farmers on mergers, including the Agrium-PotashCorp deal. That merger would create the world’s largest fertilizer company. A spokesperson for the Alberta Wheat Commission said “we aren’t opposed to mergers in general,” but says too much concentration of ownership could lead to less healthy competition. Canola-based associations have already voiced concerns over the Bayer-Monsanto deal, as the two companies currently control more than 90 percent of the herbicide-tolerant canola trait business. The Alberta Canola Producers Commission says farmers are concerned with potential input cost increases and that a merger may diminish the incentive for future innovation.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.
From: Agrium