LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- Corteva Inc. has agreed to a settlement in an ongoing crop loyalty programs class-action lawsuit filed by farmers across the country, according to a court document filed in the case at the end of last week.

A large group of farmers sued Corteva along with CHS Inc., Nutrien, BASF, Syngenta and others beginning in 2022, alleging the farmers suffered financial losses from the companies paying distributors to block competitors from selling less-expensive generic crop protection products.

Corteva took part in mediation conferences on March 10, 2026, and May 14, 2026, according to the report of a mediator filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina on May 29, 2026.

The mediator told the court a settlement had been reached only with Corteva.

In addition, Corteva has until June 10, 2026, to file a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement and release from the lawsuit. No further details have been released on the settlement.

Corteva did not respond to DTN's request for comment.

Farmers started lining up to cash in after the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin filed a separate lawsuit in September 2022 alleging the companies violated the Sherman Act and its antimonopoly provisions.

Companies also have been taking part in mediation conferences in the FTC lawsuit, according to court documents filed in the same district court.

The FTC and the states have alleged in their lawsuit that distributors only get paid if they limit business with competing manufacturers. Such arrangements, the complaint 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."

In particular, the FTC lawsuit alleged Syngenta has a monopoly and market power on the fungicide azoxystrobin and the herbicides mesotrione and metolachlor. The suit cites Corteva's herbicides rimsulfuron and acetochlor and the insecticide and nematicide oxamyl.

At the end of May, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had reached an agreement with Bayer CropScience. The DOJ said in a news release that the company agreed to remove "potentially anticompetitive provisions" from its seed loyalty program. Bayer is not part of the FTC and farmer antitrust lawsuits.

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

In a September 2022 news release, the FTC and the 10 state attorneys general said, "Cutting off competition has allowed the defendants to inflate their prices and force American farmers to spend millions of dollars more for their products."

In January 2023, Syngenta and Corteva filed separate motions asking the court in North Carolina to dismiss the lawsuit. Both companies defended the use of loyalty programs.

The companies said in those motions that loyalty programs are legal.

Read more on DTN:

"Farmers Line Up in Generics Lawsuits," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

"Chem Companies Defend Loyalty Programs," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

"Syngenta, Corteva Sued by FTC, States," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

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

Follow him on social platform X @DTNeeley

(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.