Will Monsanto Roast?

The Washington Post on Sunday published a long article about the "antitrust scrutiny" facing Monsanto (MON), which dominates the markets for both corn and soybean seeds.

The article quotes Christine Varney, the Justice Department's antitrust chief, promising to step up enforcement, which was essentially nonexistent during the Bush administration. "We must change course," Varney said. But she uttered those words last May and was speaking generally, not about Monsanto.

Although Monsanto is in fact the subject of several probes and lawsuits, it's not yet clear how much risk it is facing from antitrust regulators or the courts. The company announced last month that the Justice Department was investigating it and that that Monsanto was cooperating. Justice hasn't even confirmed the probe. Monsanto, of course, denies that it is a monopolist.

And two states, Iowa and Texas, are conducting their own probes. Meanwhile, rival DuPont (DD) in June filed a lawsuit against Monsanto alleging unfair market practices (this in response to a Monsanto suit against Dupont alleging patent infringement).

Critics say Monsanto's licensing agreements with smaller seed companies, which allow those companies to insert Monsanto's patented genes into their seeds, squeeze out potential competitors and give the company too much control over the smaller firms. Monsanto's genes are present in 96 percent of the U.S. soybean crop and 80 percent of the corn crop, by most estimates.

Prices for Monsanto-developed seeds have doubled over the past decade, outpacing the growth in crop yields