Monsanto Is No More, But Now Watch Out for Bayer

NPR reports that now that the merger between Bayer and Monsanto is complete, Bayer is dropping the much hated Monsanto name.   This is the same company who has been fighting the EU over the use of neonicotinoids, which the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has determined pose a danger to wild bees. 

I’ve known for some time that Bayer is another Monsanto.  But once the merger has been accomplished on June 7, it will combine the world’s largest pesticide maker with the world’s largest seed company, to become, you guessed it, the world’s largest seed and pesticide company. Farmer associations and groups oppose the merger, as it will concentrate twenty-five percent of the world’s seed business with Bayer. It also makes it the world’s largest herbicide maker and world’s largest owner of patents for GMOs.

According to The Washington Post, Bayer will sell off its seed and herbicide companies to BASF in order to meet the merger requirements set out by the US Justice Department.  But BASF is also headquartered in Germany; what will keep BASF and Bayer from merging in the future?

I haven’t purchased Bayer products in years for the same reasons I don’t purchase Monsanto products.  I even research seed companies I do purchase from to ensure that they are not not buying Monsanto seeds.  

I think it makes buying seed from small, independent seed growers all the more vital to the future of food. It also makes seed saving at home a really good idea.