LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- Corteva asked a federal court this week to deny a U.S. government motion to set an October 2026 trial in an ongoing 2022 antitrust crop-loyalty program lawsuit. The suit alleges the company, along with Syngenta Crop Protection, paid distributors to block competitors from selling less-expensive generic pesticide products to farmers.

Corteva filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina this week, arguing a trial could not be set until the court resolves pending summary judgment and other motions.

The company said the proposed timeframe was "unreasonable and unfair" because it is defending another similar case that requires final expert reports to be finished by Aug. 31, with discovery in that case closing on Oct. 1.

"Only Corteva would be forced to litigate on two fronts simultaneously," the company said in a court filing.

Corteva told the court it believes pending motions would resolve the claims without a trial.

In addition, Corteva said that if the court must set a trial date, it should push it back to at least the first quarter of 2027.

What's more, Corteva told the court that both companies deserve separate trials, indicating Corteva may file a motion to sever the case into two separate cases.

"But trying plaintiffs' claims together in the same trial would hopelessly confuse the issues, would prejudice both Corteva and Syngenta, and would waste judicial resources in sorting out a number of complicated evidentiary and logistical issues," Corteva said in a memorandum filed with the court.

"For example, a document might be a party admission against Syngenta but hearsay as to Corteva -- how would such a document be treated in a joint trial? Put simply, Corteva and Syngenta are each entitled to their own separate defenses, which require separate trials. For all of those reasons, if plaintiffs will not agree to separate trials, Corteva intends to file a motion to sever the case for purposes of trial."

The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general in California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin alleged in a Sept. 29, 2022, lawsuit that crop input distributors only get paid if they limit business with competing manufacturers. Such arrangements, the lawsuit said, are "cutting off" competition and allowing the companies to "inflate their prices and force American farmers to spend millions of dollars more for their products."

The Trump administration and the states asked the court to set a trial date and to limit it to a 16-day, 80-hour trial.

Syngenta and Corteva are two of the largest pesticide manufacturers operating in the U.S. Syngenta, based in Switzerland, is a subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned company. Corteva, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the company formed as part of a merger between DuPont and Dow Chemical Company.

The complaint alleges Syngenta and Corteva take "illegal" steps to stop generic pesticides from eating into their profits. The loyalty programs include making payments to distributors if the distributors keep their purchases of competing generic pesticides below a certain threshold.

"Under this scheme, Syngenta and Corteva make more money than they would if they had to compete fairly with generics," the FTC said in a news release when the lawsuit was filed.

"Boxing out the competition allows them to keep charging such high prices that, even after compensating the distributors, they can maintain a large profit margin. Distributors pass those high prices along to farmers. And those prices are ultimately passed on to consumers."

When a company creates a new pesticide, the FTC said, it can patent the invention and prevent others from selling the pesticide for 20 years.

"Ordinarily, when the patent expires, generic versions of the product enter the market to compete with the original brand-name version," FTC said.

"The arrival of generics pushes prices down. Instead of one company wielding a monopoly over a new product, many manufacturers can compete for farmers' business."

Under the Biden administration, the FTC said at the time that the complaint was part of a "broader push to unlock competition and innovation in the American economy" as well as to "protect consumers and small businesses and crack down on unfair tactics by dominant companies."

The complaint targets six crop-protection active ingredients.

It claims that Syngenta has a monopoly and market power in the United States with respect to azoxystrobin, a fungicide, and mesotrione and metolachlor, both herbicides.

In addition, the complaint alleges Corteva has a monopoly and market power in the United States on the herbicide rimsulfuron and the insecticide nematicide oxamyl. Corteva also has market power with respect to the herbicide acetochlor.

The complaint also alleges the companies violated state competition and consumer protection laws in California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin.

Read more on DTN:

"FTC Pursues Trial on Crop Loyalty Case," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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