Farmers don’t have a reputation for skewing to the political left, but just get them talking about seeds. At an expo center on the outskirts of Memphis one gray February day, several dozen of them make for a receptive audience as Charles Baron expounds….on the inequities of Big Ag. “On either side of your family business are these massive oligopolies,” the 35-year-old says….
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Baron is co-founder of Farmers Business Network Inc. (FBN), a five-year-old startup that says it can do for corn and soybean seed what Warby Parker has done for eyewear….To keep prices down, Baron’s company is developing seed directly with plant breeders, cutting out a string of middlemen. Today, FBN’s non-GMO corn seed, sold under the brand name F2F Genetics Network, ships directly to farmers for $115 a bag, compared with an average price of $270 a bag for GMO seeds. But FBN isn’t opposed to GMO products. As Bayer’s and DowDuPont’s patents begin to expire over the next few years (a lucrative one just did), Baron says he’ll incorporate those GMO traits into FBN products, too.
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Related on the SLP
For most farmers of such grains, genetically modified seeds with patent-protected advantages (weed resistance, insect immunity) have become the largest variable expense—and one over which they have little control given consolidation in the market. U.S. farmers spent $22 billion on seeds last year, 35 percent more than they did in 2010….
Read full, original article: The Startup Taking On Bayer With Cheaper, Non-GMO Seeds
