Deal May Hurt Organic Cotton

[nosmokes]

according to this article seed prices have risen 240% 1995-2005. i dunno if that's GMO seeds or all seeds, but that's a pretty hefty increase.
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original-cornucopia

Deal May Hurt Organic Cotton


By Kristen Philipkoski

Organic cotton growers could face increased risk of crop contamination if a merger between the world’s largest seed company and the nation’s largest cottonseed seller is allowed to proceed, an influential agriculture watchdog group warned Thursday.

Biotech giant Monsanto agreed to purchase Delta and Pine Land Company (DPL) last August for $1.5 billion in cash. Now, as the Department of Justice considers the merger, the Center for Food Safety has released a 57-page report protesting the deal.

“Monsanto is the largest seed company in the world…. In the ’90s (the company) began acquiring seed firms in the U.S. and abroad and it has a very dominant position in seeds in soybeans and corn,” said Bill Freese, the Center for Food Safety’s science policy analyst and author of the report. “That kind of concentration is always a concern.”

Thursday’s report is the latest salvo in a decade-long battle to prevent the tie-up, which would put nearly two-thirds of the U.S. cottonseed supply in the hands of one company. Since the late 1990s, critics have had little effect in blocking Monsanto’s steady expansion, and the DPL deal stands as a rare exception. Monsanto voluntarily backed out of a 1998 deal, fearing regulatory backlash.
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complete article including link to the report here

[Ignacio Upton]

1. Fuck Monsanto

They're putting all sorts of crap in our food, and abuse patent laws to sue farmers who reuse seeds that they purchased.