EU says Bayer Monsanto must not hurt competition in digital farming

Bayer needs to ensure that a merger with rival Monsanto does not stifle competition in digital farming, the European Union’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Verstager told a German newspaper on Saturday.
 
Bayer’s $63.5 billion takeover of US Monsanto, announced in 2016, is set to create the world’s largest seeds and pesticides company.
 
“Digitalisation is radically changing farming. We need to beware that through the merger, competition in the area of digital farming and research is not impaired,” Verstager told Germany’s Rheinische Post.
 
A Danish politician who is serving as Europe’s top anti-trust watchdog, Verstager told the paper the