Seed Monopolies and Repair Rights Collide with Great Lakes Contamination
July 10, 2026
Peasant movements in Uganda and Chile are resisting the corporate enclosure of seed systems and hazardous pesticide dumping, while North American farmers secure a landmark FTC victory against John Deere’s proprietary software locks. These struggles for material autonomy coincide with new data mapping 40 years of PFAS 'forever chemicals' migrating through the Great Lakes food chain, exposing the toxic legacy of industrial agribusiness. Together, these developments reveal a global pushback against the proprietary capture of biological and mechanical infrastructure, from the soil microbes of Iowa to the indigenous territories of the Global South.
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ANALYSIS
Capturing the seed: China’s agribusiness expansion at home and abroad
China is investing in gene editing, GM crops and AI-assisted breeding while expanding its seed companies overseas—aiming not just to grow more food, but to control more of the global agricultural supply chain.
- food sovereignty
- corporate power
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Chile: Peasant And Indigenous Organizations Reject Government Proposal To Commercialize Peasant Seeds
The resolution would open doors to speculative trade on seeds, making it prohibitively expensive for peasant farmers and Indigenous peoples who feed the territories. The post Chile: Peasant And Indigenous Organizations Reject Government Proposal To Commercialize Peasant Seeds appeared first on La Vi…
- food sovereignty
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Uganda’s Peasant Movements Push Back Against Harmful Pesticides with Agroecology
More than half of the 41 Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) registered for use in Uganda are currently banned in the European Union. Despite this, they remain on Ugandan shelves and in Ugandan fields. The post Uganda’s Peasant Movements Push Back Against Harmful Pesticides with Agroecology appeared…
- food sovereignty
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BRIEF
Farmers Finally Get a John Deere Right to Repair Agreement That Doesn’t Screw Them Over
The FTC's settlement with John Deere actually has teeth, unlike previous settlements that largely maintained the status quo.
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The FTC Settlement With John Deere Is a Huge Win for the Right-to-Repair Movement
After more than a decade of pushback, farmers and repair advocates have won access to equipment and services John Deere had long kept under its control.
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Equipment suppliers push back on potential ‘right to repair’ laws in multiple provinces
An industry group that won amendments in the U.S. is lobbying about multiple Canadian bills intended to make it cheaper and easier to repair equipment
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BRIEF
New research traces how ‘forever chemicals’ move through the Great Lakes and into people
The study used more than 40 years of data to map fluctuating PFAS levels across species in the region's food chain.
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BRIEF
Fertilizers carry a hidden cost for soil’s crucial microbes – using less as prices rise might pay off for farms in unexpected ways
The activity of tiny microbes in and around the roots of crops such as soybeans are valuable for their growth. Oleh Malshakov/iStock/Getty Images Plus Across North America, in places such as Illinois, Iowa and Texas, farmers are busy growing the crops the world depends on for food, fuel and fiber. B…
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