Tester Statement on Monsanto-Bayer Merger

(U.S. Senate) – Senator Jon Tester, the Senate’s only working farmer, issued the following statement today after the announcement of Bayer’s $66 billion acquisition of the seed and pesticide company Monsanto:

“Corporate consolidation in the agriculture market is the single greatest threat to family farmers and our rural way of life. This latest proposed mega-merger stands as a high water mark for agribusiness in its quest to dominate the seed market, and family farms will pay the price. As a Senator and a farmer, I’m calling on the Justice Department to reject this merger because it will reduce competition, suppress innovation, and threaten the very fabric of rural America.”

Tester has a long history fighting against consolidation and corporate favoritism in agriculture.