Monsanto muscle pushes out other seed options, forces farmer costs up

Farmers say consolidation in the industry means they're forced to buy more costly seeds, and have virtually no other seed to buy but that from Monsanto. That company – the world's largest seed firm – says competition “is alive and flourishing.”

Ninety-two percent of the U.S. soybean acres and 85 percent of the fields planted with corn are grown with seeds that use Monsanto technology, according to a 2009 report issued by Farmer to Farmer. About 75 percent of processed food -- such as margarine and chicken soup -- on the country's grocery shelves contains engineered ingredients.

With that great a dependence on genetically modified crops, what will continuing escalation of seed costs—promised by Monsanto to Wall Street—eventually do to food prices?

Full story: Los Angeles Times

Organic option: Organic Seed Alliance (OSA)

OSA on farmer seed issues: In Good  Tilth