Merging Companies Meet with Lawmakers

Top executives from all five agrochemical and seed companies looking to merge appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.  The move was seen as an effort to reassure lawmakers that the quickly developing consolidation trend won't be bad news for farmers.  In the past year, Dow AgroScience and DuPont Pioneer agreed to merge, Chinese chemical company ChemChina bought Syngenta, and just last week Bayer AG announced a deal to buy Monsanto.  That's caused a lot of worry on all sides about where the industry is headed.

The lengthy hearing got heated from time to time.  Representatives from the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farmers Union and others testified during Tuesday’s hearings as well.

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