This week the European Union approved the merger between Dow Chemical Company and DuPont company. The National Farmers Union is now calling on the Trump administration to block the deal. The merger if allowed by the U.S. Justice Department would create the largest biotechnology and seed firm in the United States. South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke says that merger if approved will limit competition and harm farmers and consumers.

He says the best way to stop the merger is to have the Justice Department turn thumbs down on it rather than having an executive order issued.

Sombke says the timing of possibly allowing the merger to go through isn’t good as agriculture is already in a depressed economic state. He says farmers will face higher costs as a result of the deal.

Sombke says another concern is that the merger of Dow DuPont would give the resulting company close to 41 percent of the corn seed market and 38 percent of the market for soybean seeds.