FTC confirms it is also investigating Syngenta and Corteva for anticompetitive pesticide distribution

U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson disclosed on June 26 that the FTC’s fertilizer pricing investigation is one of three active antitrust probes targeting the agricultural inputs sector, with separate investigations also underway into John Deere and into Syngenta and Corteva for anticompetitive pesticide distribution practices.

Ferguson alleged that Syngenta and Corteva paid agricultural distributors not to carry competing crop protection products, effectively forcing farmers to buy through restricted channels at artificially elevated prices. “That’s where your pesticide prices come from,” he told a farmer gathering, according to MLex. Both companies declined to comment on the allegations.

The FTC formally launched the fertilizer pricing probe earlier this year and has already issued subpoenas to fertilizer producers, Ferguson confirmed on June 26. The investigation targets pricing practices at major nitrogen, phosphate and potash producers; separately reported DOJ sources have identified the companies under scrutiny as including Nutrien, Mosaic, CF Industries, Koch and Yara. Multiple U.S. states have joined the fertilizer investigation alongside the FTC.

Ferguson framed all three cases as part of the Trump administration’s push to police “corporate consolidation” in agriculture. He cautioned that the FTC cannot file a complaint without sufficient evidence to win at trial. “We’re only as good as the evidence we find,” he said, urging farmers to contact investigators directly. The FTC has asked for help gathering farmer testimony about pricing, supply allocation, and retailer contracts.

The agricultural input sector has consolidated significantly since the 1980s: the number of U.S. nitrogen fertilizer producers declined from 46 to 13 between 1984 and 2008, and four companies now control an estimated 75% of domestic nitrogen capacity. Potash and phosphate markets are similarly concentrated. USDA data cited by Ferguson shows fertilizer has been the single largest driver of rising farm input costs in the United States since 2020.

Source: Farm Progress