Syngenta, Corteva Freed From Farmer Crop-Input Antitrust Lawsuit

Syngenta AG, Corteva Inc., Bayer AG, and BASF Corp. dodged claims that they conspired to keep prices of crop-protection chemicals high after the Eighth Circuit said the farmer plaintiffs failed to plead facts suggesting the agricultural giants colluded.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in a Monday opinion affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of the case, saying the defendants’ individual actions didn’t plausibly suggest parallel conduct “because they are not sufficiently similar to each other as to ‘substance, timing, or effect.’”

Antitrust law requires evidence of an agreement, not just similar behavior.

The ruling ...