BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s antitrust watchdog said last week it has launched a probe into German chemical maker Bayer’s planned acquisition of U.S. seed and weed-killer company Monsanto. The European Commission, which polices competition in Europe, said it has concerns that the merger may reduce competition in areas like pesticides and seeds.

 

“We need to ensure effective competition so that farmers can have access to innovative products, better quality and also purchase products at competitive prices,” Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.

Monsanto in September last year accepted an offer from Bayer to pay $57 billion to its shareholders and assume $9 billion in debt. Were it to go ahead, the buyout would create the world’s largest integrated pesticides and seeds company.

The Commission says it will also look into whether the move would hinder the access of competitors to distributors and farmers.

NEW YORK, N.Y. (AP) — Amazon plans to use its deep pockets to make big changes at Whole Foods, saying it will cut prices on bananas, eggs, salmon, beef and more when it completes its $13.7 billion takeover this week.

Helping Whole Foods win back customers who found “good enough” organic and natural products elsewhere – possibly at a lower cost – fits Amazon’s track record of keeping prices low to lock in customer loyalty. Looking ahead, Amazon hopes to give members of its Prime program special savings and other in-store benefits.

It’s an “opening salvo” in the grocery wars, said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, and shares of other supermarkets fell sharply on the news. “Rivals should be under no illusion that they are now dealing with a competitor that is not afraid to damage profits and margins if it creates long-term gains,” Saunders said in an analyst note.

Among other Whole Foods items getting discounts: avocados, tilapia, baby kale, apples and rotisserie chicken – all organic, Amazon said. The company also said certain Whole Foods products will be available through Amazon.com, AmazonFresh, Prime Pantry and Prime Now.

Amazon’s announcement came a day after Whole Foods shareholders gave their approval and the Federal Trade Commission said it would not block the purchase. Amazon will pay $42 per Whole Foods share, an  18 percent premium from its price the day before thetie-up was announced June 16. The stock edged up to $41.98 on Thursday.

Rivals have been scrambling to catch up with the e-commerce giant. Walmart, which has the largest share of the U.S. grocery market, is expanding its grocery delivery service with ride-hailing service Uber and announced last week it will join forces with Google to let shoppers order goods by voice on Google devices. While Whole Foods accounts for less than 3 percent of U.S. grocery and supermarket sales, the purchase gives Amazon a foothold in a fragile industry that can ill-afford more price cutting.

“Lower prices could be catastrophic for some operators,” said Madeline Hurley, a senior analyst at market research firm IBISWorld. “It could drive them out of the industry.” On average, she said, supermarkets only squeeze about $1 of profit out of every $100 in revenue.

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Investigators have linked three large fish kills this month to livestock manure that had been spread on farm fields in northwestern Ohio, and now they’re looking into whether any laws were broken. What’s not known is whether the manure was deposited just before rain washed it into area creeks or if too much manure was put down, said Jeremy Payne, a wildlife investigator with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

An Ohio law put in place two years ago to combat harmful algae in Lake Erie prohibits farmers from spreading manure on fields within 24 hours of expected heavy rains because it contains phosphorous that feeds algae.

The manure also contains ammonia that pulls the oxygen out of creeks and streams and kills fish. An estimated 66,000 fish – from minnows to sunfish – were found dead in the creeks in Hardin, Allen and Williams counties this month. A fourth fish kill in Mercer County also is being investigated.

In the most recent case, about 15,000 fish along a 10-mile stretch of a creek in Williams County were found dead last week. The manure spill, though, won’t cause any long-term damage in the creek, said Payne, who added fish already are being spotted in the Williams County creek.

It’s possible that those responsible for putting the manure on the fields will be billed for the cost of the fish, said Steve Thomson, a state wildlife officer. How much depends on the type and number of fish killed, but the price tag could be several thousand dollars, he said.

 

CHICAGO, Ill. — U.S. soy oil prices jumped 1.8 percent on August 23 while biomass-based diesel fuel credits also gained on expectations for increased demand for domestic supplies after Washington imposed duties on Argentine and Indonesian biodiesel imports. Reuters reported Argentine biofuel producers threatened to halt exports to the United States after the U.S. Commerce Department’s decision August 22 to slap countervailing duties of up to 64.17 percent on the imports from the South American country.

The Indonesian trade minister said he planned to log an objection against duties as high as 68.28 percent, which were imposed after the U.S. National Biodiesel Board claimed foreign supplies were harming U.S. biodiesel makers.

Imports, mostly from Argentina, made up nearly half of U.S. biodiesel consumption of 2 billion gallons in 2016, according to government data. If the Argentine export ban materializes, then that would likely boost U.S. prices, encouraging increased U.S. biofuel production.

Soy oil futures at the Chicago Board of Trade rallied when global trading opened late on August 22. Prices for the oil were up 59 cents at 34.65 cents per pound by early afternoon, below their earlier roughly four-week high of 35.01 cents.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology says it’s buying more than 1,100 acres of Hulman family property just south of its Terre Haute campus.

Rose-Hulman President Jim Conwell said Thursday the acquisition will increase the size of the institute’s property more than sixfold. The school says the transaction comes on the 100th anniversary of the 1917 gift of a 123-acre Hulman family farm to the then-named Rose Polytechnic Institute.

The 1971 transfer of Hulman Foundation assets to the institute resulted in the name change to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Hulman family members include late businessman and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman.

The property being purchased includes a large home, a family lodge, several outbuildings, farmland and forest. The school didn’t say what it plans to do with the land.