DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND USDA WORKSHOPS TO EXPLORE COMPETITION
AND REGULATORY ISSUES IN THE AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY TO BEGIN MARCH 12 IN IOWA

Initial Workshop to be Held in Ankeny, Iowa, at Des Moines Area Community
College, FFA Enrichment Center

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) announced today the agenda and panelists for the first
joint public workshop, which will be held on March 12, 2010, in Ankeny,
Iowa, to explore competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture
industry. The workshop will be held at the Des Moines Area Community
College's FFA Enrichment Center.

The workshops, which were first announced by Attorney General Eric Holder
and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Aug. 5, 2009, are the first joint
Department of Justice/USDA workshops ever to be held to discuss competition
and regulatory issues in the agriculture industry. The goals of the
workshops are to promote dialogue among interested parties and foster
learning with respect to the appropriate legal and economic analyses of
these issues, as well as to listen to and learn from parties with
experience in the agriculture sector. Attendance at the workshops is free
and open to the public. The general public and media interested in
attending the initial workshop should register at
https://go.dmacc.edu/ffa/agworkshop.

The Department of Justice's Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust
Division Christine Varney and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will
participate in the workshop and will be joined by Iowa Agriculture
Secretary Bill Northey and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. They will
participate in a roundtable discussion with presentations on current issues
affecting farmers. Two panels focusing on the competitive dynamics in the
seed industry and trends in contracting, transparency and buyer power will
follow. The first day of the workshops will end with an enforcer roundtable
and public testimony.

The workshop schedule follows:

Opening Remarks (9:00 a.m. CST - 9:15 a.m. CST)

Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, U.S.
Department of Justice

Roundtable Discussion and Presentation of Issues (9:15 a.m. CST - 11:30
a.m. CST)

Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, U.S.
Department of Justice
Tom Miller, Attorney General, State of Iowa
Bill Northey, Secretary of Agriculture, State of Iowa
Tom Harkin, Senator, U.S. Senate (tentative)
Chuck Grassley, Senator, U.S. Senate (tentative)
Leonard Boswell, Congressman, U.S. House of Representatives (tentative)

Invited:

Chet Culver, Governor, State of Iowa

A farmer roundtable discussion and testimony will also be given at this
time. Farmer panelists will be posted on the Web site at a later date.

Seed Competitive Dynamics Panel (1:00 p.m. CST - 2:15 p.m. CST)

Moderator:
James MacDonald, Chief, Agricultural Structure and Productivity Branch,
Economic
Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Panelists:
Ray Gaesser,Soybean and Corn Farmer, Corning, Iowa; Vice President,
American Soybean Association; Former President, Iowa Soybean Association
Neil E. Harl,Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and
Emeritus Professor of Economics, Iowa State University; Member of the Iowa
Bar
Dermot Hayes, Professor of Economics and Finance, Pioneer Chair in
Agribusiness, Iowa State University
Diana Moss, Vice President & Senior Fellow, American Antitrust Institute
Jim Tobin, Vice President, Industry Affairs, Monsanto Company

Agricultural Trends Panel (2:15 p.m. CST - 3:15 p.m. CST)

Moderator:
Phil Weiser, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice

Panelists:
Brian Buhr, Professor and Head of Department, Applied Economics,
University of Minnesota
Rachael Goodhue, Associate Professor, Department of Agriculture and
Resource Economics, University of California, Davis
Mary Hendrickson,Extension Associate Professor of Rural Sociology,
University of Missouri
John Lawrence, Professor of Economics, Iowa State University
Chuck Wirtz, pork producer, Whittemore, Iowa
Patrick Woodall, Research Director, Food & Water Watch

Enforcer Roundtable Discussion Panel (3:30 p.m. CST - 4:15 p.m. CST)

Moderator:
Mark Tobey, Special Counsel for State Relations and Agriculture, U.S.
Department of Justice

Panelists:
Steve Bullock, Attorney General, State of Montana
Richard Cordray, Attorney General, State of Ohio
John Ferrell, Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory
Programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Stephen Obie, Director, Division of Enforcement, Commodity Futures Trading
Commission
William Stallings, Assistant Section Chief, Transportation, Energy and
Agriculture Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice

Public Testimony (4:15 p.m. CST - 5:15 p.m. CST)

This is an opportunity for those in the audience to make comments in an
open forum.

Additional updates and information will be posted on the Antitrust
Division's agriculture workshop Web site at
http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/workshops/ag2010/index.htm. While no
streaming Web cast will be available, transcripts will be available for
review at a later date on the Antitrust Division's Web site. Individuals
seeking more information on the workshops should contact
[log in to unmask].

Press Contacts:
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
Gina Talamona
202-514-2007     U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of Communications
Jim Brownlee
202-720-4623

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