DOJ Seeks to Stop Deere from Purchasing Monsanto’s Precision Planting Division

Randall Weiseman Field Crops, General, Industry News Release

The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to stop Deere & Company from buying Monsanto’s Precision Planting farm equipment business.

The Justice Department said the proposed deal would mean higher prices for farmers who want to buy equipment for high-speed precision planting, according to Reuters.

In a statement, Deere announced the company would fight the lawsuit, calling the antitrust concerns “misguided.” Monsanto announced last year it would sell its Precision Planting unit to Deere, which makes the components of precision planters.

The Justice Department said by offering farmers high-speed precision planting retrofit kits at a fraction of the cost of a new planter, “Precision Planting posed a formidable challenge to Deere and its profitable sales of new planters.”

The deal is estimated to be worth $190 million.

(From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters News Service)