On the market since last summer, BASF’s herbicide-tolerant, non-GMO Clearfield canola business in Canada and the U.S. has landed at the door of Corteva Agriscience. Corteva, the merged seed and chemical business of Dow and DuPont, announced Wednesday it has closed a deal to buy the Clearfield system, including its herbicide-tolerant canola trait and related […] Read more
DowDuPont’s Corteva arm buys Clearfield canola system
Canola, corn, soy traits to move forward with China approvals
Approvals from China are expected to allow several major trait developments to move ahead in Canadian canola, corn and soybean fields. The Reuters news service on Tuesday reported safety certificate approvals from China’s ministry of agriculture and rural affairs for biotech traits including: Bayer’s 88302, or TruFlex canola, approved in Canada since 2012; BASF’s RF3, […] Read more
Ag trade flows may change amid trade dispute, Bayer says
Monheim | Reuters — Bayer said on Tuesday it would be difficult to predict 2019 earnings at its agriculture business, which now includes Monsanto, because a U.S.-Chinese trade dispute could reroute global trade flows in farming commodities. The head of Bayer’s crop science division told Reuters his company could even benefit if U.S. farmers switched […] Read more
Canada clears Bayer’s Monsanto play, with conditions
Canada’s Competition Bureau says it’s “actively reviewing” BASF’s suitability as a buyer of the crop seed and chemical assets Bayer has to sell to get the bureau’s blessing to buy Monsanto. The Competition Bureau said Wednesday it has an agreement with Bayer to deal with “concerns that the proposed transaction would have significantly harmed competition […] Read more
Bayer wins U.S. nod for Monsanto deal to create ag giant
Frankfurt/Washington | Reuters — Bayer won U.S. approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto after agreeing to sell about US$9 billion in assets, clearing a major hurdle for the US$62.5 billion deal that will create by far the largest seeds and pesticides maker. Makan Delrahim, who heads the U.S. Justice Department’s (DoJ) antitrust division, said […] Read more
Bayer cuts Monsanto synergy target on divestments
Bonn | Reuters — Bayer said positive synergy effects from the planned takeover of U.S. seeds and chemical firm Monsanto would be about US$300 million below its previous target because it will sell more businesses than initially expected to get antitrust approval. Bayer CEO Werner Baumann again threw his weight behind the deal, despite higher […] Read more
BASF set to pick up Bayer’s Poncho, ILeVO treatments
Bayer’s seed treatments Poncho and ILeVO could soon have a new owner, as part of another deal with fellow German chemical firm BASF. BASF, which last October agreed to buy several Bayer CropScience assets including its global glufosinate-ammonium herbicide business and LibertyLink trait, announced another 1.7 billion-euro (C$2.65 billion) deal Thursday for an additional package […] Read more
Bayer to sell digital farming business to BASF
Frankfurt | Reuters — Germany’s Bayer plans to sell its digital farming business to BASF as part of changes to concessions it has offered to win over antitrust regulators for its proposed takeover of Monsanto . Bayer, which had previously only agreed to grant a licence to competitors, said on Wednesday that as part of […] Read more
Bayer gets U.S. approval to buy Monsanto: report
Reuters — German drugs and pesticides group Bayer has reached a deal with the U.S. Justice Department for antitrust approval for its US$62.5 billion bid to acquire Monsanto by agreeing to sell additional assets, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The Justice Department reached an agreement in principle with the two companies in recent days, […] Read more
Arkansas judge rules six farmers can spray dicamba
Chicago | Reuters — An Arkansas judge has ruled that six farmers in the state this summer can spray a weed killer made by Monsanto and BASF that was blamed for hurting millions of acres of U.S. crops last year. The decision is the latest twist in the saga surrounding dicamba-based herbicides and immediately sparked […] Read more
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