Title page
Contents
Abstract 3
Acknowledgements 3
A report summary from the Economic Research Service 5
Introduction: Competition in Agribusiness, a Primer 7
Analyzing Concentration and Competition in Three Agribusiness Sectors 8
Measuring Concentration 9
Antitrust Policy 9
How Concentration Matters in Antitrust Enforcement 11
Other Policies Aimed at Competition in Agribusiness 12
Consolidation, Competition, and Innovation in Crop Seeds 13
Biotechnology and Expanded Intellectual Property Rights Spurred Structural Changes 13
Concentration in Seed Markets 15
Market Power, Innovation, and Seed Prices 21
Mergers and Merger Policy in the Seed Industry 25
Conclusions 31
Consolidation and Competition in Meatpacking 31
Vertical Coordination 33
Mergers and Meatpacking Concentration 34
Mergers and Merger Policy in Meat and Poultry Processing 41
Conclusions 42
Concentration and Competition in Food Retail 42
Drivers of Increased Concentration 44
Vertical Linkages 45
Retailers Compete on Price and Other Dimensions 46
Concentration and Competition 47
Mergers and Merger Policy in Food Retailing 47
Buyer Power and the Use of "Slotting Fees" 49
Conclusions 50
References 51
Table 1. Market shares for U.S. corn, soybean, and cotton retail seed, 2000-20 17
Table 2. Ownership of intellectual property rights (IPRs) over new crop varieties in the United States 20
Table 3. Agricultural sales of six largest firms in the global seed and pesticide industry in 2015 26
Table 4. U.S. antitrust agencies focused on competition in markets for these seed and chemical products 27
Table 5. Agricultural sales in 2021 of the four seed-chemical firms that resulted from 2015-20 mergers 30
Table 6. Concentration in U.S. cattle, hog, broiler, and turkey procurement 31
Table 7. Recent entrants in the U.S. meatpacking industry 39
Figure 1. Diffusion of genetically modified (GM) crops in the United States, 1994-2020 15
Figure 2. U.S. retail seed prices for genetically modified (GM) and non-GM crops, 1990-2020 22
Figure 3. Seed prices and seed-embodied innovations 23
Figure 4. Crop R&D spending and seed and chemical sales revenue by major companies worldwide, 1990-2020 24
Figure 5. Issuances of intellectual property rights (IPRs) for new crop varieties, 1971-2020 25
Figure 6. Annual beef, broiler, and pork production in the United States, 1966-2018 32
Figure 7. Farm-to-wholesale choice beef spreads, 1987-2021 38
Figure 8. National food retail concentration in the United States, 1990-2019 43
Figure 9. Local food retail concentration, 1990-2019 44