AGRICULTURE
Four ag giants to rule them all A Bayer scientist inspects cotton fibers at a research facility in Lubbock, Texas.
2016 was the year that the dominoes fell on of annual sales on R&D but in recent years regulators decide three deals is too many, consolidation in the seeds and crop protechas created few blockbuster products with the last one—Bayer-Monsanto—may face tion industry. $500 million-per-year sales. In addition, an uphill battle. Monsanto was the first agriculture githe firms bear the cost of long regulatory In a letter to the U.S. Department of ant to make a move with its failed bid to time lines and periodic reviews of older Justice, the National Corn Growers Asacquire Syngenta in May 2015. It ended chemicals. sociation, a trade group of corn farmers, up as the last one to fall when it agreed to “The vision for this combination was said it has “significant concern” that the be bought by Bayer in September 2016 for born out of that desire to help farmers grow Dow-DuPont merger will result in a highly $66 billion. more with less,” said Monsanto CEO Hugh concentrated corn seed market. NCGA Once the dust settles, there will be Grant when announcing the firm’s deal is less concerned about competition in only four major, global suppliers of crop with Bayer. corn herbicides and insecticides. Indeed, chemicals and seeds. Three will result But farmers—not to mention regulators the group said DowDuPont would be in a from mergers: Dow Chemical and DuPont, and lawmakers—wonder whether fewer better position to compete with Bayer and Syngenta and ChemChina, and Bayer and firms will mean less competition and innoSyngenta, which dominate crop protection Monsanto. The fourth firm, BASF, also has vation overall. Those concerns have already chemicals. plans to grow—by picking up businesses pushed completion of the Dow-DuPont The National Farmers Union, another the other firms will divest to smooth their and Syngenta-ChemChina deals to 2017. If group representing farmers, said it is conway through antitrust regulatory cerned that innovation could slow approvals. as merged companies cut costs by The wave of consolidation was Agriculture firms paired up to more efciently develop eliminating overlapping research driven in part by low prices for agand market crop chemicals, seeds, and traits. programs in plant breeding, traits, riculture commodities. In the U.S., and chemical discovery. 2015 sales, $ billions farmers have seen their incomes On the other hand, streamdrop each year since 2013 and have lined spending on crop traits and 14.3 11.2 Bayer + Monsanto less to spend on costly inputs such chemicals has the potential to 13.6 2.8 Syngenta + ChemChina as patented chemicals for pest confree up funds for new and emergtrol and new seeds “stacked” with ing agriculture technologies. For 8.2 8.0 Dow + DuPont multiple traits. example, in its bid for Monsanto, By combining forces, agriculture Bayer touted the benefits of a com6.4 BASF firms hope to control the high costs bined R&D platform in biologics, ◾ Crop protection ◾ Seeds & traits of developing those innovative prodseed treatment, and digital farmucts. The industry spends about 10% Sources: Companies, C&EN calculations ing.—MELODY BOMGARDNER
The four giants
AWARDS
Nobel Prize in Chemistry at a glance Three chemists made the trip to Stockholm this year for their work on the design and synthesis of interlocked molecules and molecular machines, such as catenanes, rotaxanes, and molecular motors.
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | DECEMBER 12/19, 2016
Ben L. Feringa, University of Groningen
Jean-Pierre Sauvage, University of Strasbourg
J. Fraser Stoddart, Northwestern University
CREDIT: BAYER (AG RESEARCHER); COURTESY OF BEN FERINGA; CATHERINE SCHRÖDER/UNISTRA (SAUVAGE); NORTHWESTERN U (STODDART)
Amid low prices for commodities, firms claimed pairing up will ensure profitability, innovation
