A new type of hybrid is being spliced in the agribusiness community. The big chemical and pesticide companies are playing for big stakes with the major seed providers.
If the trend continues, farmers will have only one or two sources from which to buy what they need to plant and grow crops.
In 1996, DeKalb Genetics Corp., the second-largest seed corn producer, sold 40 percent of its stock to Monsanto Co., the large St. Louis biotechnology and pesticide company that has taken positions in a number of agribusiness firms.
DeKalb last week said it is ready to sell to farmers next year a seed corn variety that is resistant to Roundup, Monsanto’s leading weed killer. For the first time, weeds could be sprayed with no damage to the corn crop.
DuPont Co. and Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. last week struck a deal that they said would develop foods and animal feed through genetic engineering. DuPont will pay $1.7 billion for 20 percent of Pioneer, the country’s leading seed company, based in Des Moines.
