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Oct. 8, 2026 by Ryan Hanrahan, University of Illinois' FarmDoc project Urbana, IL -- The Wall Street Journal's Elias Schisgall reported that "the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Agriculture have launched a probe into potential anticompetitive practices in the agricultural equipment markets, sending shares for farming machine makers lower." "The regulators on Wednesday said they opened a joint public inquiry seeking information into the manufacturing and distribution markets for agricultural equipment amid a growing number of complaints to the USDA," Schisgall reported. "They invited comments from the public, saying farmers across the country are facing barriers to acquiring agricultural equipment and the services required to keep the equipment operating." Progressive Farmer's Todd Neeley reported that "the federal agencies said they want to address the 'growing number of complaints' received by USDA that 'farmers across the country face other barriers' to acquiring equipment, the FTC and USDA said on Wednesday." "The request for information is part of what the agencies describe as their attempt to preserve competition in agriculture," Neeley reported. "The agencies said they specifically want to know whether ag equipment manufacturers and dealers are restricting competition and, if so, how that might be affecting farmers, independent repair shops and rural economies." Bloomberg's Ilena Peng reported that "the Trump administration has accelerated its attempts to address high costs for farmers ahead of the midterm elections, including by temporarily loosening restrictions on tax-free, off-road diesel earlier this week. Andrew Ferguson, the FTC's chairman, said Wednesday in a post on X that the 'Trump Administration has our farmers' backs.'" "The inquiry presents 'mostly headline risk in the near term,' Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Justin Teresi wrote in a note. While it could lead to a formal investigation, 'that risk remains entirely remote and speculative until the scope of submissions becomes clearer,' Teresi said," according to Peng's reporting. Shares of Ag Equipment Manufacturers Fall Investing.com's Louis Juricic reported that "shares of the country's biggest agricultural machinery manufacturers took a hit on Wednesday after federal regulators announced a broad investigation into the industry's business practices. The news sent Deere & Company stock tumbling 5.0%, while shares of rivals CNH Industrial and AGCO Corporation fell 5.7% and 5.9%, respectively." USDA and DOJ Strengthen Agreement to Investigate Seed Industry The Iowa Capital Dispatch's Cami Koons reported that "the USDA launched a program Tuesday to increase research and sequencing of the country's seed collection and announced it was "strengthening" its agreement with the Justice Department to investigate competition in the seed industry." "Rollins was joined by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, to announce an expanded memorandum of understanding between USDA and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) with a 'new focus on seed markets,'" Koons reported. "'The DOJ will be shining an even brighter light on seed pricing practices, on seed licensing, on seed relabeling and on barriers facing independent seed companies,' Rollins said. 'So again, working very very hard to do everything we can to support our farmers and ranchers.'" "According to USDA data, the average price of crop seeds increased more than 270% from 1990-2020, at a rate 'significantly faster' than the price that farmers received for their commodities. The USDA report shows that corn, soybeans and cotton seeds, which are typically genetically modified seeds, rose at an even faster rate, with an average increase of 463% in the 30-year time frame," Coons reported. "Rollins, citing the report, said 'there's got to be a reason for that.'" Tweet |
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