Fall
2015
Grains
West
12
BY TREVOR BACQUE
THE
FARMGATE
CHEMICALBURN
MONSANTO’SBIDTOACQUIRESYNGENTAFAILS TOMATERIALIZE
MONSANTO WILL HAVE TO GO
back to the drawing board after it received
a final refusal from Switzerland-based
Syngenta as harvest began.
The proposed $45-billion takeover bid of
Syngenta made big waves in the industry.
However, there have been few ripples
since, as Syngenta wouldn’t budge on the
idea of a merger.
In May, Monsanto announced its
intentions but its number was rebuffed as
an underwhelming valuation. Monsanto,
the world’s largest seed seller, was trying
to acquire Syngenta, the world’s largest
provider of crop protection chemicals.
As insurance, Monsanto also offered $2
billion—later upped to $3 billion—in
compensation for a reverse breakup fee if
a deal were to fail regulatory hurdles.
“We were interested in the deal, but not
at any cost,” said Trish Jordan, Monsanto
Canada’s public and industry affairs direc-
tor. “We were focused on the right deal
at the right price and that doesn’t seem
possible with their response.”
Jordan said industry consolidation
is normal, but life sciences remains an
area where companies aren’t too keen on
joining forces.
“There seems to be a natural benefit in
creating linkages within some of the com-
panies that exist. We’re always looking for
ways to strengthen our company.”
Syngenta publicly stated Monsanto
failed on four key fronts, including Mon-
santo’s estimate of total cost and revenue
synergies and its assumptions regarding
net sales proceeds and traits.
“Our Board is confident that Syngenta’s
long-term prospects remain very attractive
with a leading portfolio and a promising
pipeline of new products and technol-
ogies,” said Syngenta chairman Michel
Demaré, in an official release.
Monsanto tried dutifully to entice
Syngenta for an acquisition and tried to
allay concerns over antitrust by publishing
a white paper with the help of four major
law firms. Monsanto intended to divest
itself of Syngenta’s entire seed and trait
business, including vegetables.
NORELIEF
FORTFW
S
BY SCOTT ROLLANS
PRODUCERS AND PROCESSORS
hoping for better access to temporary
foreign workers instead got a July 6 media
release from the federal government
outlining stiff new penalties for employers
who break the rules of the Temporary
Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the
International Mobility Program.
Rick Paskal, whose Lethbridge-area cat-
tle operation was featured in the Spring
2015 issue of
GrainsWest
, now sees little
future for the TFWP in the agriculture
sector. “I’m pretty sure the program is
done,” he said flatly.
Paskal’s chief complaints include the
non-refundable fee (introduced mid-2013)
now required for each Labour Market
Impact Assessment, and restrictions on
the length of time workers can stay. “You
can’t expect people to move for a one- or
two-year commitment—to sell everything
they have in their country of origin—and
have no certainty as to what their future’s
going to be.”
At the same time, grains and oilseeds
are not included on the national commod-
ities list, and these industries can’t access
seasonal workers under the TFWP. A few
limited pathways to permanency still exist
for agriculture and agri-food foreign work-
ers, according to a June report prepared
by the Canadian Agricultural Human
Resource Council (CAHRC). But general
farm workers, classified as “lower-skilled,”
no longer qualify for the provincial nomi-
nee program.
Of course, lower-skilled help also hap-
pens to be an area of critical need.
According to the CAHRC, there are cur-
rently more than 1,000 vacant positions in
the value-added meat industry alone.
The CAHRC is eager to work with
industry and government to find solu-
tions, said executive director Portia
MacDonald-Dewhirst. “There are 64 or-
ganizations and associations from across
Canada, and across all the commodity ar-
eas, that are speaking with one voice and
clarifying that this industry is struggling
and needs support.”
MacDonald-Dewhirst is taking part
in an October 20 “Agriculture Labour
Summit” in Red Deer (laboursummit.
albertamilk.com), where panelists and
registrants will discuss issues surrounding
recruitment and retention. The CAHRC is
also hosting its own summit next March,
in Winnipeg.
“The shortages are here now,” said
MacDonald-Dewhirst. “We already have
a problem. What are we going to have in
five years?”
