Tamara Nelsen, senior director of commodities the at Illinois Farm Bureau, in her office with a variety of seed bags from the past. In recent years, seed prices have skyrocketed by as much as 30 percent annually. Seed costs have increased faster than fertilizer, pesticide or any other input cost, according to the Texas A&M University research. Department of Agriculture announced in early October that it plans to pay more than $7 billion in taxpayer money to keep growers in business. The same four companies control most of the soybean seed market as well.Ĭombined, they netted more than $102 billion in 2015 sales, financial reports show.Ĭritics believe the acute concentration of seed companies has generated an uncompetitive market that has hurt farmers by raising the price of seeds as commodity prices have dropped.
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The vast majority of the corn seed market is dominated by four companies: Monsanto, DuPont, Dow Chemical and Syngenta AG. Those buyouts have left just a few dozen independent sellers remaining. Seeds produced with genetic engineering are commonly known as genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.Īgribusiness powerhouses have gobbled up hundreds of small-scale seed companies since 1990, research from Texas A&M University’s Agricultural and Food Policy Center reveals. To create those traits, companies use a mix of traditional breeding methods and genetic engineering techniques. Seed companies sell varieties of seeds with traits that help farmers withstand drought or ward of crop-destroying pests such as weeds and insects. “The reason for that is concentration in the seed business.” See related: "Cotton industry looms large in Bayer-Monsanto deal" “The seed cost has gone up tremendously,” said Brauer, who also serves as president of the Illinois Farmers Union. The bundle of direct costs involved with growing an acre of corn in 2015 topped $400 per acre. University of Illinois researchers found that seed corn prices averaged $23 per acre in 1990 and $118 per acre in 2015.
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This planting season, Brauer paid more than $100 an acre for corn seed alone. See related: "Ag officials ponder future trade as ChemChina-Syngenta deal reportedly hits snag" In 1990, the $100 cost covered “everything,” he said, including fertilizer, pesticide and - most importantly - the corn seed itself. Central Illinois corn and soybean farmer Norbert Brauer said he remembers when he could plant an acre of corn for about $100 total.īut that was nearly three decades ago.