The Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee plans a hearing in late September on seed and chemical company mergers that he claims are threatening agriculture input competition. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is announcing the Senate hearing in the wake of a Treasury Department panel’s favorable completion of its national security review of the ChemChina-Syngenta merger.

The Judiciary Committee chairman calls it “alarming” that a state-owned enterprise with long-term strategic aims involving China’s national security, may have “yet another stake” in U.S. agriculture.
Grassley expects industry and agency witnesses to testify next month before his panel on seed and ag chemical industry consolidation.

But, Grassley expects witnesses from companies affected by the mergers and regulatory agencies. He also expects his committee to exert some leverage on regulators and parties involved.

Grassley says the seed industry is on the brink of a “massive realignment” if the ChemChina-Syngenta and Dow-DuPont deals are completed and another firm acquires Monsanto. He argues the current structure of the six major seed and chemical companies would be reduced to four, one of which would be owned by China’s government. DowDuPont would control 76 percent of the corn seed market, 66 percent of soybeans.

Grassley is urging Justice and the FTC to coordinate their anti-trust reviews–something he says they may now do.