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Mounting investor interest in agricultural technology

Jul 31, 2019
The sector has to balance a spike in investor interest with the cost of labor and infrastructure.
Micro greens grow at a vertical farm in Newark, New Jersey.
Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

As farmers age, they face the challenge of finding successors to take over

May 21, 2019
Farmers across America are getting older and weighing the fate of their farms.
Alan Haight, 62, prunes apple trees at Riverhill Farm in Nevada City.
Sean Havey for California Dream

The trade war impacts everything from Apple to apples

How the U.S.-China trade war is affecting agribusiness and the rest of the global economy.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Rookie farmers in California are turning to nonprofit groups to boost their business savvy

Jan 29, 2019
“Beginning” farmers operate a quarter of U.S. farms, according to the USDA.
YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / Getty Images

In the age of climate change, farmers weigh their options for the future

Dec 27, 2018
National climate change report says the business of farming could dramatically change if global warming isn’t addressed.
A pasture of pure blue stem prairie grass, never touched by a plow during the 150 years the Teske family has owned this piece of northeast Kansas.
Peggy Lowe for Marketplace

Bayer sheds some brands to focus on pharma and fight pesticide claims

Nov 29, 2018
The giant multinational corporation Bayer is selling off the Dr. Scholl’s and Coppertone brands acquired four years ago when the company bought Merck. Now Bayer is looking to expand its cancer drug research and development and the agribusinesses it’s been growing since buying Monsanto earlier this year. Sounds good, but there’s a lingering problem that […]

What’s behind Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto?

May 30, 2018
A whopping $66 billion deal in the agribusiness space just won the approval of antitrust regulators in Washington, D.C. That clears the way for German behemoth Bayer to acquire St. Louis-based Monsanto. Monsanto has for years ridden the success of the herbicide Roundup and seeds that are tolerant of the chemical. But now Monsanto— and […]

For public good, not for profit.

The latest bumper crop in agriculture: mergers

Sep 14, 2016
Bayer AG and Monsanto are the latest agribusiness giants tying the knot.
The German company Bayer AG is buying Monsanto in a deal worth about $66 billion, including debt.

 
PATRIK STOLLARZ, JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images