University of Saskatchewan’s Richard Gray says there’s plenty of reason to be concerned about the Bayer-Monsanto merger.

Canola farmers worried about Bayer-Monsanto merger

The fear is the new company’s market power will result in higher seed prices and less innovation unless regulators order some divestiture of assets

Farmers who are worried about chemical and seed giants Bayer and Monsanto merging should be, according to one prominent agriculture economist. With 94 per cent of western Canadian canola containing Bayer’s Liberty Link or Monsanto’s Roundup Ready traits, the new company will have tremendous market power resulting in higher canola seed prices for farmers, said

Big Seed’s big players prepare to dance

Since late last summer, Big Seed’s big players have looked more like anxious high school kids hoping to pair off for the senior prom than international businesses investing in new products and markets. The first to go courting was St. Louis-based Monsanto. Last August it offered nearly $46 billion for its Swiss classmate, Syngenta, only


Trish Jordan

Canadian grain companies wary of unapproved GM crops

Top U.S. grain companies have taken a hard line and are refusing genetically modified crops that haven’t been approved in major markets, while Canada’s grain industry remains more flexible. So far the Canadian companies are approaching the issue on a case-by-case basis, but that could change, according to Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western

Actors Amelia Sargisson and Eric Peterson play playwright Annabel Soutar and Percy Schmeiser in “Seeds.”  PHOTO: HAANITA SEVAL

‘Seeds’ docudrama tells the compelling Percy Schmeiser vs Monsanto story

Annabel Soutar's play on now at the Prairie Theatre Exchange is thought provoking, nuanced and entertaining

account_id=”2206156280001″ player_id=”ryGLIkmv”] Monsanto Canada’s Trish Jordan (l) and actor Carey Lawrence who plays Jordan in “Seeds,” a play about Percy Schmeiser’s battle with Monsanto over patent infringement on at Winnipeg’s Prairie Theatre Exchange until Feb. 28.[/caption] The portrayal of several scientists is less accurate, making one out to be supercilious and two others as beer-swilling