Seed Patents Fuel Corporate Profits at Farmers' Expense

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has found that two companies control over 70% of U.S. corn and soybean seed sales, while the top four cottonseed companies hold nearly 94% of that market.

This concentration of power allows a small number of corporations to suppress competition in the seed industry, stifle innovation, and turn taxpayer subsidies into corporate profits.

The patent system, which grants exclusive rights to plant varieties, has enabled these companies to prohibit other breeders from conducting research with their seeds and to forbid farmers from saving their own seeds.

This has resulted in a significant increase in the price of genetically engineered seeds, with prices rising by 463% since 1990, while farmer crop prices have only increased by 56% over the same period.