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Missouri farmer has “small” concerns about merger

A Missouri farmer says he is less worried about the potential merger of Bayer and Monsanto now than he was when it was first announced, “It did, originally, and I guess it continues to be a concern of mine but it’s a small concern. The first knee-jerk reaction of a merger like that is that all mergers are bad.”

Rick Paris is a corn and soybean farmer in northwest Missouri (Hale, Missouri) who also runs a cow-calf operation. He sees innovation and new products coming out of the deal, “These companies are more complementary to each other than adversarial and as a result I look for great things to come to the farmers, to our farm, to make us more profitable and more efficient in the years to come.”

Paris says farmers will still have choices, “A big company like Bayer. A big company like Monsanto. You think that they have control over your pocketbook. Well, they do to a certain extent but you have the ultimate control because you choose to buy your input costs from whoever you want to buy from.”

Paris made his comments following a discussion between ag leaders this morning sponsored by the Missouri Biotechnology Association and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. Bayer says the merger is likely to be finalized early next year, pending all necessary regulatory approvals.