Justice Department sues to block Monsanto, Deere deal

The U.S. Justice Department sued yesterday to block a low-profile deal between two high-profile agricultural industry suppliers.

The antitrust lawsuit wants to bring an end to Deere's planned acquisition of Monsanto's Precision Planting, which was initially revealed in November.

Saying the suit is necessary to protect farmers, government officials claim the purchase would give Deere an unfair advantage on the market for high-speed precision-planting devices.

Deere and Monsanto each pledged to fight the suit.

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