Federal judge dismisses chemical pricing lawsuit

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A federal judge in Missouri has dismissed an antitrust lawsuit against major crop seed and chemical companies, ruling there was insufficient evidence of a conspiracy to fix crop chemical prices.

In her decision, Judge Sarah Pitlyk criticized the plaintiffs for using generalizations to prove the companies had collectively boycotted electronic crop inputs. She found that the allegations did not rebut Bayer, Corteva and Syngenta’s claims that they used legitimate business practices to achieve profitability.

The case includes lawsuits from 2021 in which farmers and others accused the companies of being pressured by wholesalers and retailers not to sell their products through e-commerce platforms.

In a statement, Bayer said it “believes that markets for agricultural inputs are competitive, fair and diverse” and that farmers “have many options for purchasing agricultural products.” The company said it welcomes any activity that enables it to better support farmers.