Friends of the Earth, Farm Aid, National Family Farm Coalition, SumOfUs and Organization for Competitive Markets are organizing a congressional briefing June 13-15, in cooperation with Senators Richard Blumenthal, Amy Klobuchar, Jeff Merkley and Jon Tester and Representatives David Cicilline, John Conyers and Hank Johnson, to raise awareness about corporate concentration in agriculture and the pending mergers between giants Dow-Dupont and Bayer-Monsanto.

These organizations alongside a number of beekeeping, food, farming, consumer and environmental organizations are organizing these events to raise awareness about the pending mergers (Bayer-Monsanto and Dow-DuPont).

The new company will own the seed for about 70% of all the cotton grown in the US. Together, Monsanto, Bayer, and just one other company will sell 77% of all the corn seed grown in the US, and about 95% of all seed for corn, soybean, cotton, canola, and wheat will contain a Monsanto and Bayer gene that enables the extensive use of herbicides like Roundup on the fields. In addition, the merging companies will be the world's largest vegetable seed business for vegetables such as broccoli, green beans, carrots, and onions.

SFC Executive Director, Ronda Rutledge, will be joining with these leaders in sustainable agriculture to stand against these mergers.