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A comment on Bayer confirms $66bn Monsanto takeover.

Re:Bayer confirms $66bn Monsanto takeover by MichaelMoser123 on Wednesday September 14, 2016 @09:36AM (#12496689)
The faz says that in other news ChemChina is buying Syngenta - these are two big companies; Are there any hidden reasons why agriculture tech companies are so interested in mergers these days?

Hmm.. here [1] it says that "three straight years of declining prices for major crops have pressured profits and forced companies to scale back staff and research."; Does that explain the pressure for mergers in this area?

[1] http://www.wsj.com/articles/chemchina-details-changes-to-str...

and that is supposedly because a glut in corn and soybeans is driving prices down;

http://www.journalgazette.net/news/us/High-corn-yield-hurts-...

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Re:Bayer confirms $66bn Monsanto takeover by MichaelMoser123 on Thursday September 15, 2016 @01:45AM (#12503733)
i am wondering about the larger impact of agricultural issues on the economy & politics; i wonder if anyone ran a study of this factor over the long run:

for example the crash of 2008 was preceded by a long drought that caused a steep increase of food prices; also Arab countries were then unable to keep up food subsidies, so the Arab spring came and forced the governments out; Also the French revolution was preceded by a drought + the French state was basically bankrupt.

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