https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-bayer-monsanto-merger-is-bad-news-for-the-planet/
Two new studies from Europe show that the number of birds in agricultural areas of France has crashed by a third in just 15 years, with some species being almost eradicated. The collapse in the bird population mirrors the discovery last October that more than three quarters of all flying insects in Germany have vanished in just three decades. Insects are the staple food source of birds, the pollinators of fruits and the aerators of the soil.
The chief suspect in this mass extinction is the aggressive use of neonicotinoid pesticides, particularly imidacloprid and clothianidin, both made by the Germany-based chemical giant Bayer. These pesticides, along with toxic glyphosate herbicides such as Roundup, have delivered a one-two punch to monarch butterflies, honeybees and birds. But rather than banning these toxic chemicals, on March 21 the EU approved the $66 billion merger of Bayer and Monsanto, the U.S. agribusiness giant that produces Roundup and the genetically modified (GMO) seeds that have reduced seed diversity globally.
The merger will make the Bayer-Monsanto conglomerate the largest seed and pesticide company in the world, giving it enormous power to control farm practices, putting private profits over the public interest.
The $66 billion Bayer-Monsanto merger just got a major green light — but farmers are terrified
- Apr. 10, 2018, 2:48 AM
Jim Young/Reuters
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Bayer, a German pharmaceutical and chemical company, has won approval in the US to buy agricultural giant Monsanto.
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But farmers are worried about what the consolidation might mean for prices and their future business.
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Whereas Bayer and Monsanto claim the move will spur innovation, other analysts have expressed skepticism.
Farmers aren’t so sure.
“From my perspective, they’re saying the exact opposite of what most people in the industry actually believe,” Clay Govier, a farmer in central Nebraska, told Business Insider in January 2017. Govier is the fifth generation to work on his family farm of 3,000 acres, which primarily grows corn and soybeans. The farm has used Monsanto products for at least 12 years, and Govier’s family expects seed and chemical prices to increase due to the merger.
That could put many small family farms in tough positions.
“I just sat down to chat with my banker the other day, and fortunately we’re in a position that I don’t think we’re going to have to have a hard conversation when it comes to loans for next year,” Govier said. “But he said there are a lot of guys out there that are going to have a really hard conversation.”
http://uk.businessinsider.com/bayer-monsanto-merger-has-farmers-worried-2018-4
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-monsanto-m-a-bayer/bayer-faces-u-s-antitrust-hurdles-for-monsanto-merger-bloomberg-idUKKCN1GR2L8
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional |
Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) 
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