The U-S Departments of Agriculture and Justice announce a plan to toughen up oversight of the industry.Their sights appear to set squarely on the seed giant Monsanto, which is facing serious allegations of monopolistic practices.Fox Mankato's Ryan Gustafson has the story.At a meeting in Iowa today, officials from the Justice and Ag Departments said that the competitive market has been eroded...Based on that contention, they announced their plans to crack down on monopolies in the industry.Christine Varney says, "We're going to do everything we can to make sure that it's a competitive agriculture economy. That farmers, growers, packers, processors are all making a decent wage and we're getting American consumers food that is safe and healthy at a decent price."Their big target appears to be Monsanto, who after buying up much of the smaller companies, is now facing off with Dupont's Pioneer brand.Barb Overlie says, "The seed business is now between them and Dupont. So they are one of the largest suppliers, they also have a lot of research labs, and they are the ones who developed the Round-up Ready technology."Herbicides target broad leaf plants, including soybeans.The introduction of Round-up Ready soybeans was huge for agriculture, as farmers could now spray for weeds once or twice, and leave it at that. No more walking between the rows manually pulling out the weeds or cultivating.Overlie says, "So you save miles over the field, you save time, chemical. As far as I'm concerned it was a win-win. Especially because I didn't have to walk any more."Monsanto's patent on the herbicide resistant hybrid has angered anti-trust groups, who feel it has given Monsanto a leg up on the competition.But while the focus is on business practices in Washington, out on the farm they are focusing on the end of Monsanto's patent in 2014, and making sure that generic versions will step in to take its place.Overlie says, "We are trying to prepare for that event, because we would like to have that technology continue. Because there are certain varieties we are used to. We like planting them, we know they do well."While trust busting in D.C. may seem like light years away, the globalization of agriculture has local farmers watching intently.Ryan Gustafson, The Fox Mankato News At Nine.