The Alberta Canola Producers Commission (AC) recently met with the Competition Bureau to discuss the potential impact of a Bayer-Monsanto merger on the canola industry, as well as its producers.
Analysis from the Alberta Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) says the combined company would control about 94 percent of the canola traits, as well as about 66 percent the province’s canola seed sales.
“This new life sciences giant could potentially control almost all of the herbicide tolerant see traits and almost three quarters of seed sales in Western Canada,” ACP Vice-Chairperson Renn Breitkreuz said in a news release.
The A-C-P also says that farmers want more choices on their operations, as they fell the market is already dominated by a few large players, even without the merger.
“The lack of competition is what’s concerning when it comes to drivers of future innovations in canola,” said ACP General Manager Ward Toma. “We’ve already seen instances where the big players aren’t interested in investing in solutions for a small crop on a global scale.”
The commission says the most significant issues for international canola market access is regulatory approvals for biotechnology, pesticides and phytosanitary measures.
– Posted by BET
