The National Farmers Union is speaking out about the Bunge-Viterra merger, stating that it will increase the merged company’s ability to extract excess profits from Canadian farmers – and ultimately from Canadian communities and economy.

A release from the NFU says the merger effectively ends competition in Canada’ agriculture commodity sector by giving control of 40% of the grain market to what will become the world’s largest agricultural commodity trader.

When the merger is finalized, the union says the four main players, ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis-Dreyfus, will control 70% of the world’s grain trade. A 4 firm Concentration Ratio above 40% is considered monopolistic, and Canadas CR4 for grain companies will be 88 per cent.

NFU is urging Ottawa to ensure the Canadian Grain Commission and other regulators have increased capacity and authority to safeguard farmers’ interests.