Reuters reports:
St. Louis, MO – A U.S. judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing agriculture giants Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta and others of conspiring with wholesalers and retail outlets to fix prices for seeds and crop protection chemicals, causing farmers to pay higher prices.
St. Louis-based U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk ruled, opens new tab on Friday that farmers and other plaintiffs failed to present sufficient allegations that the companies had violated U.S. antitrust law.
The farmers said Bayer and others schemed to collectively boycott electronic “crop inputs” platforms, depriving the ability of farms and other purchasers to make effective cost comparisons for key agricultural materials.
Pitlyk said the plaintiffs’ allegations did not rebut the companies’ claims that their practices served legitimate business purposes. She faulted the plaintiffs for advancing “mere generalizations” in their lawsuit.
Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta and BASF, another defendant, welcomed the court’s ruling in separate statements. Bayer said the crop input market is “competitive, fair and diverse.” Corteva said it will continue to “vigorously” compete in agricultural markets.
All of the defendants had denied any wrongdoing.
To read the entire article click here.
