In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Diana Moss, Vice President and Director of Competition Policy at the Progressive Policy Institute, urged lawmakers to confront mounting consolidation in the seed and fertilizer industries that is squeezing U.S. farmers and driving up food costs for consumers.
Moss warned that decades of mergers among agricultural biotechnology firms have created highly concentrated, vertically integrated markets that raise prices and limit choice for seeds and fertilizers. She cautioned farmers are locked into complex bundled products for traits, seeds, agrochemicals, and digital farming, for which they pay high licensing and technology fees.
She also highlighted evidence of possible coordination in fertilizer markets, where higher market concentration and periodic prices spikes have burdened farmers and contributed to higher food prices.
Moss called for stronger antitrust enforcement, better coordination between the DOJ, FTC, and USDA, more data collection to improve market transparency, and potentially new authority for USDA in intervening to ensure stable and resilient supply chains that protect farmers and consumers.
