Editing Big Agro and the Seed Monopoly (section)

==== Big Six to Big Four ====
Following the chemical and industrial revolution, the agricultural sector has seen a dramatic shift towards consolidation, with a handful of companies now controlling the global market for seeds and agricultural chemicals. This consolidation has been driven by several factors, including the development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the patenting of seed varieties, and the vertical integration of supply chains, creating oligopolies. The Big Six have now consolidated as the Big Four: Corteva Agriscience split from DowDuPont, and Chemchina was acquired by Syngenta for $43 billion. Monsanto is now part of Bayer, whose seed divisions (including the Stoneville, Nunhems, FiberMax, Credenz and InVigor brands) were sold to BASF (a European multinational chemical company) for $7 billion to satisfy antitrust regulators in 2018. These multinational companies seem to be associated with everything that is diabolical about modern agriculture.

In 2016 it was announced that Bayer, which generates $10.2 billion of its $51.8 billion revenue from seed and agrochemical revenues, acquired Monsanto, which generates all of its $13.5 billion revenue from seed and agrochemicals, in a $63 billion merger. The merger was essentially a move that successfully disassociates the negative press and pushback worldwide from the Monsanto name, while continuing business as usual under a different head. The Big Four, allocate substantial financial resources towards lobbying efforts, securing governmental backing for their nefarious activities such as lobbying and agrochemical pollution. In 2016, Dow invested $200,000 in agricultural lobbying, whereas Syngenta expended $940,000. This consolidation and formation of more entrenched oligopolies is also a cultural and economic issue. It undermines the values of food producers and consumers globally. These oligopolies bulldoze the many communities that champion principles of empowering individuals, supporting small enterprises, and upholding the freedom to engage in farming and self-sustenance without reliance on the products of industrial agriculture or the dominance of merely four major corporations.