Is better agricultural antitrust enforcement on the horizon? Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will hold public workshops on agricultural competition issues in early 2010 to examine opportunities for better enforcement of antitrust and competition policy relating to agriculture.

Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, recently said, “competition issues affecting agriculture are a priority for me.” Monsanto has publicly acknowledged that the Justice Department requested information regarding the biotechnology company’s potential violation of antitrust laws.

Monsanto dismissed the Justice inquiries as, “similar to other requests … received over the last few years.” OK, let me be plainspoken. Monsanto cannot even see the applicable antitrust laws and regulations in their rear-view mirror, and over the last 12 years should have gotten a lot more than inquiries from the Justice Department. But rather than be critical of Justice and USDA for being late to the dance, I’ll just say I’m happy they showed up at all.

Monsanto is also battling Pioneer, owned by DuPont, over antitrust and patent issues. Monsanto sued Pioneer over alleged infringement of Monsanto’s patents for “Roundup Ready” traits in Pioneer’s “Optimum” line of seeds scheduled for release in 2011. Pioneer and DuPont countersued, accusing Monsanto of using Roundup dominance in the herbicide market to force seed companies to license Monsanto biotechnology for their seed lines – in violation of antitrust law, according to Pioneer.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Secretary Vilsack warned Hugh Grant, Monsanto’s CEO, that there is a growing perception that the company unfairly controls the biotech corn and soybean seed sectors. Perhaps the secretary is being generous, but the farmers we know have had that perception for a long time.

With the Monsanto and Pioneer battles escalating, along with increased scrutiny of mergers and anticompetitive behaviors in the meatpacking industry and upcoming rulemaking to allow more aggressive enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act, Attorney General Holder and Secretary Vilsack have chosen an appropriate time to examine enforcement of antitrust and competition laws. Of course, if the workshops are to benefit family farmers, ranchers and rural communities, they will need to hear from all of us.

USDA and Justice are encouraging comments on antitrust and competition issues, including biotechnology, captive livestock supplies, packer ownership of livestock, price discrimination and unreasonable preferences. That’s why we’re tracking this process, and we invite you to learn more about making your voice heard at www.cfra.org/ag-competition-hearings.

Contact: John Crabtree, johnc@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1010 for more information.