Corporate Seed Control Raises Costs, Stakes for America’s Food Security

The majority of all U.S. seeds are provided by four companies, which some experts say has become a pressing national security issue.

For decades, American farmers relied on a diverse patchwork of seed companies to grow the nation’s food supply.

That landscape of thousands of small suppliers began narrowing with a quiet wave of mergers in the 1990s, and ultimately ended with a handful of multinational giants.