Who Sets the Price of Bread?

POWER

Four companies move most of the grain the world trades.

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THE HOUSES

ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus — and one state challenger crashing the table.

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THE MECHANISM

The price of your bread is set in Geneva and Chicago — not in the field.

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THE MERGER WAVE

Fewer hands on the harvest. Bigger harvests. Thinner margins for everyone else.

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THE FARMER'S TWELVE CENTS

Of every dollar you pay for bread, the farmer keeps about twelve cents.

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THE CRACK

One state challenger is rewriting the rules — and the old families are watching.

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THE STAKES

Grain is the world's oldest power game — and its quietest monopoly.

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