Major seed and chemical companies have argued they spend years and millions of dollars producing their products and then the patent ends. When that happens, generics can undercut their profits. Companies have also sued generic companies when they try to enter the market, alleging copyright infringement.<\/p>\n
Bayer has agreed to suspend for seven years pillars of its loyalty programs, which Trump administration officials called \u201cunfair provisions\u201d that \u201cpose a danger to competition,\u201d the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The agreement relates to how Bayer sells the seeds it produces through years of research and development. Bayer sells corn and soybean seeds to middlemen who then sell to farmers. To maintain the middlemen\u2019s loyalty, Bayer implemented incentives that prevented resellers from seeking out potentially cheaper alternatives, according to the DOJ.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Loyalty programs in the chemical and seed industries have led to higher prices for farmers, federal authorities have said.<\/p>\n
The DOJ did not immediately respond when asked why the agreement was for seven years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bayer did not respond when asked by Investigate Midwest if it planned to reinstate the provisions after the agreement ended, but the company said in a general statement that it accepted the agreement because it believes \u201cthese changes made sense\u201d for Bayer and its resellers.<\/p>\n
With few specifics of the agreement public, it\u2019s hard to judge how effective the deal will be at lowering prices for farmers, said Bill Freese, the science director at the Center for Food Safety, which has studied<\/a> the effect of seed industry concentration on farmers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhile vigorous antitrust actions are needed in the seed-pesticide sphere,\u201d he said, \u201cthese modest agreements with Bayer do not go nearly far enough to help American farmers suffering from Trump\u2019s anti-farmers policies.\u201d<\/p>\n The DOJ said<\/a> Bayer\u2019s loyalty program was a \u201ckey subject\u201d of the department\u2019s Antitrust Division\u2019s ongoing investigation into the corn and soybean seed markets.<\/p>\n Under the program, Bayer required resellers to meet sales targets for both corn and soybean to qualify for discounts from Bayer. This arrangement \u201craised concerns that Bayer was anticompetitively tying corn seed and soybean seed,\u201d the DOJ said in its announcement.<\/p>\n The company dropped the connection for the 2025 planting year, according to the DOJ.<\/p>\n Another aspect of Bayer\u2019s loyalty program involved incentives that the DOJ said might limit resellers\u2019 willingness to purchase seeds from Bayer\u2019s competitors. The incentives are not detailed in the DOJ\u2019s announcement, and the DOJ did not respond to a request for comment asking what they were.<\/p>\n Loyalty programs have been part of the seed and chemical industry \u2014 typically, the seeds and pesticides required to grow commodity crops are sold together<\/a> \u2014 for decades. Some have termed them \u201cvelvet handcuffs<\/a>\u201d that are designed to fend off generic competitors, which sell cheaper options to resellers.<\/p>\n Major seed and chemical companies have argued they spend years and millions of dollars producing their products and then the patent ends. When that happens, generics can undercut their profits. Companies have also sued generic companies when they try to enter the market, alleging copyright infringement.<\/p>\n The seed and chemical industry is highly concentrated. The first Trump administration oversaw three mergers, including Bayer\u2019s purchase of Monsanto, that further consolidated the marketplace.<\/p>\n Just two companies<\/a>, Bayer and Corteva, sell more than half of all corn and soybean seeds in the U.S., according to 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture research. The companies also own the vast majority of patents<\/a> related to corn and soybeans.<\/p>\n When the Biden administration took over in 2021, officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture created<\/a> a working group \u2014 along with the U.S. Patent Office, the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ \u2014 to address the industry\u2019s concentration.<\/p>\n A USDA spokesperson said the working group\u2019s \u201cactivities have wound down,\u201d but the department \u201ccontinues to coordinate\u201d with the patent office on \u201cseed and plant variety protection issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of the Biden administration\u2019s initiative was creating<\/a> a new Farmer Seed Liaison to receive complaints from farmers about potentially anti-competitive practices. The complaint page<\/a> is still on the USDA\u2019s website.<\/p>\n In 2025, Trump officials at the USDA and the DOJ signed a memo<\/a> stating they would maintain their \u201ccooperative relationship\u201d to protect farmers from high input costs. The DOJ\u2019s announcement said the agreement with Bayer partly grew out of this relationship.<\/p>\n Also under Biden, the FTC sued two major industry players, Corteva and Syngenta, over their loyalty programs related to pesticide sales. The FTC alleged<\/a> the programs limited competition, which then raised chemical prices for farmers.<\/p>\n The FTC cited internal emails from Corteva employees where they discuss preventing sales from other companies. \u201cOur team truly has done an A+ job blocking generics,\u201d one email read.<\/p>\n The FTC\u2019s lawsuit is ongoing. A class-action lawsuit with similar allegations is also ongoing. Bayer is not a subject of either lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both Trump administrations have generally been lenient with corporations who faced government investigations over alleged wrongdoing. In his first term, the USDA hamstrung<\/a> an independent agency tasked with investigating unfair market practices in the meat industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since taking office again, the administration has canceled enforcement actions against 153 companies, according to Public Citizen<\/a>. The DOJ\u2019s antitrust division has also lost hundreds of attorneys<\/a> and employees that could help build cases against industry behemoths.<\/p>\n \tCitations & References:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Statements<\/p>\n Emailed statement from Bayer, May 21, 2026<\/p>\n Emailed statement from U.S. Department of Agriculture, May 22, 2026<\/p>\n Emailed statement from Bill Freese, Center for Food Safety, May 22, 2026<\/p>\n News stories<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Buy it or else\u2019: Inside Monsanto and BASF\u2019s moves to force dicamba on farmers<\/a>,\u201d Investigate Midwest, Dec. 4, 2020<\/p>\n \u201cCongress could beef up meatpacking oversight this fall. But obstacles to enforcement remain.<\/a>\u201d Investigate Midwest, Aug. 4, 2022<\/p>\n \u201cTwo companies control more than half of the corn, soybean and cotton markets<\/a>,\u201d Investigate Midwest, Oct. 18, 2023<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s victory throws new USDA framework on seed industry into question<\/a>,\u201d Investigate Midwest, Nov. 13, 2024<\/p>\n \u201cBayer, Corteva control vast majority of GMO seed patents<\/a>,\u201d Investigate Midwest, Dec. 16, 2024<\/p>\n \u201cIn tough times, they sold farmers fungicides. A top manufacturer, Syngenta, intervened.<\/a>\u201d Investigate Midwest, April 1, 2025<\/p>\n \u201cTrump made meatpacking investigation a campaign promise but antitrust staff has been gutted<\/a>,\u201d Investigate Midwest, March 31, 2026<\/p>\n Government publications<\/p>\n \u201cUSDA Launches Interagency Working Group on Competition and Intellectual Property in Seeds<\/a>,\u201d U.S. Department of Agriculture press release, March 23, 2023<\/p>\n \u201cFTC v. Syngenta and Corteva<\/a>,\u201d Federal Trade Commission webpage, Jan. 12, 2024<\/p>\n \u201cMemorandum of Understanding between the Antitrust Division, Department of Justice and The Department of Agriculture<\/a>,\u201d federal memo, Sept. 29, 2025<\/p>\n \u201cAntitrust Division Secures Seed Tying and Loyalty Program Commitments from Bayer<\/a>,\u201d U.S. Department of Justice press release, May 20, 2026<\/p>\n \u201cFarmer Fairness<\/a>,\u201d U.S. Department of Agriculture webpage, undated<\/p>\n Other<\/p>\n \u201cMonsanto v. U.S. Farmers<\/a>,\u201d Center for Food Safety research, 2005<\/p>\n
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