FTC Pursues Trial on Crop Loyalty Case

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- The Trump administration and 12 states asked a federal court to set a trial date in a crop-loyalty program lawsuit against Syngenta Crop Protection and Corteva, in a motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. The lawsuit filed in 2022 alleges the companies paid distributors to block competitors from selling less-expensive generic pesticide products to farmers.

The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general in California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin alleged in a Sept. 29, 2022, lawsuit that crop inputs distributors only get paid if they limit business with competing manufacturers. Such arrangements, the lawsuit said, are "cutting off" competition and allowing the companies to "inflate their prices and force American farmers to spend millions of dollars more for their products."

Discovery in the case closed on Dec. 5, 2025, and briefing on motions is expected to be finished by March 20, 2026. According to the motion, mediation between both sides is expected to be completed by April 30, 2026.

The Trump administration and the states have asked the court to set a trial date for some time in October 2026 and to limit it to a 16-day, 80-hour trial.

"This case implicates multiple levels of the sale and distribution of crop protection products, and consistent with its complexity, the parties have taken depositions of 52 fact witnesses," the motion said.

"Plaintiffs expect that the parties will call at trial multiple current and former employee witnesses from each defendant, as well as witnesses representing other manufacturers and the defendants' distributor customers. The parties have also retained between them nine expert witnesses who have authored expert reports."

The plaintiffs told the court there would be "substantial overlap" in evidence to both Syngenta and Corteva.

"And witnesses from both Syngenta and Corteva will be called to testify about the defendants' unlawful agreements with each other," the motion said.

"But the efficiencies created by the evidence applicable to both defendants does not change the fact that plaintiffs have alleged and will seek to prove violations on the part of both Syngenta and Corteva."

Syngenta and Corteva are two of the largest pesticide manufacturers operating in the United States. Syngenta, based in Switzerland, is a subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned company. Corteva, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the company formed as part of a merger between DuPont and Dow Chemical Company.

The complaint alleges Syngenta and Corteva take "illegal" steps to stop generic pesticides from eating into their profits. The loyalty programs include making payments to distributors -- as long as the distributors keep their purchases of competing generic pesticides beneath a certain threshold.

"Under this scheme, Syngenta and Corteva make more money than they would if they had to compete fairly with generics," the FTC said in a news release when the lawsuit was filed.

"Boxing out the competition allows them to keep charging such high prices that, even after compensating the distributors, they can maintain a large profit margin. Distributors pass those high prices along to farmers. And those prices are ultimately passed on to consumers."

When a company creates a new pesticide, the FTC said, it can patent the invention and prevent others from selling the pesticide for 20 years.

"Ordinarily, when the patent expires, generic versions of the product enter the market to compete with the original brand-name version," FTC said.

"The arrival of generics pushes prices down. Instead of one company wielding a monopoly over a new product, many manufacturers can compete for farmers' business."

The Biden administration FTC said at the time that the complaint was part of a "broader push to unlock competition and innovation in the American economy" as well as to "protect consumers and small businesses and crack down on unfair tactics by dominant companies."

The complaint targets six crop-protection active ingredients.

It claims that Syngenta has monopoly and market power in the United States with respect to azoxystrobin, a fungicide; and mesotrione and metolachlor, both herbicides.

In addition, the complaint alleges Corteva has monopoly and market power in the United States on the herbicide rimsulfuron and the insecticide and nematicide oxamyl. Corteva also has market power with respect to the herbicide acetochlor.

The complaint also alleges the companies violated state-competition and consumer protection laws in California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin.

Read more on DTN:

"Chem Companies Defend Loyalty Programs," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

"Syngenta, Corteva Sued by FTC, States," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

"Farms: Ag Companies Push Out Generics," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @DTNeeley

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