Sept 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has dismissed a lawsuit

accusing agriculture giants Bayer, Corteva ( CTVA ), Syngenta and others

of conspiring with wholesalers and retail outlets to fix prices

for seeds and crop protection chemicals, causing farmers to pay

higher prices.

St. Louis-based U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk ruled on

Friday that farmers and other plaintiffs failed to present

sufficient allegations that the companies had violated U.S.

antitrust law.

The farmers said Bayer and others schemed to collectively

boycott electronic "crop inputs" platforms, depriving the

ability of farms and other purchasers to make effective cost

comparisons for key agricultural materials.

Pitlyk said the plaintiffs' allegations did not rebut the

companies' claims that their practices served legitimate

business purposes. She faulted the plaintiffs for advancing

"mere generalizations" in their lawsuit.

Bayer, Corteva ( CTVA ), Syngenta and BASF, another defendant,

welcomed the court's ruling in separate statements. Bayer said

the crop input market is "competitive, fair and diverse."

Corteva ( CTVA ) said it will continue to "vigorously" compete in

agricultural markets.

All of the defendants had denied any wrongdoing.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs at law firms Lockridge Grindal

Nauen and Gustafson Gluek declined to comment.

The case includes lawsuits that were filed across the

country in 2021. The crop protection chemicals at issue include

fungicides, herbicides and insecticides.

Farmers accused wholesale and retail outlets of pressuring

manufacturers such as Bayer not to deal with emerging e-commerce

platforms that would have opened the crop input market to

greater price transparency.

The defendants countered that there was no evidence

supporting the plaintiffs' conspiracy claims, and that any

resistance to the electronic platforms "was entirely consistent

with each individual defendant's independent commercial

interests."

The case is In re: Crop Inputs Antitrust Litigation, U.S.

District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, No.

4:21-md-02993-SEP.

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