USDA Deputy Secretary flags fertilizer, equipment consolidation

Speaking on a National Ag Law Center webinar recently, Stephen Vaden says one of the biggest concerns is the fertilizer market and the concentration by Mosaic and Nutrien. “It should have never been allowed to happen in the first place that those two companies were able to so constrain the supply of so many of the fertilizers that our farmers depend on that they were able to get pricing power.”

He says anti-competitive behavior has put U.S. farmers at a major disadvantage. “It’s unacceptable. This administration is going to do everything it can to ensure that farmers have the fertilizer they need at a price they can pay and a price that allows food to be purchased at a price that the consumer can pay. We’re not going to allow these two companies to do anything to undermine this or another new market participant.”

Vaden says the two companies have operations to Canada. “Where they openly – their word work together, my word collude – to control prices up there. That would be such a clear violation of the antitrust laws of the United States, but they don’t bring that venture down here to the United States.”

Mosaic, Nutrien and USDA did not respond to a request for comment from Brownfield for this story.

Vaden says similar concerns have emerged with farm equipment manufacturers. “It’s not just right to repair. It’s the right to pick where you purchase from. Ask any farmer who’s bought a piece of equipment recently. Can you pick which dealer you purchase from? The answer is no.”

He said those restrictions can lead to unnecessary and added costs for farmers who choose to buy equipment outside their local dealer network.