Prairie farmers will likely not notice any major change in the area of grain handling as a result of Glencore's acquisition of Viterra, according to the vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

However, Humphrey Banack says he's concerned about competition in the area of crop input sales, with Agrium acquiring 90 percent of Viterra's retail business.

"Agrium has a huge base in the production of fertilizer, and that's where we see that single chain coming back down. It's going to be very hard, as I know there are areas in Alberta where you'll have a fair distance to drive to not deal with an Agrium outlet," says Banack. "Competition will be an issue."

He explains farmers need to have options.

"When we see one player take over as big a market share as this is, there's always concern that with the failure of a small player, that market share can increase and there's nothing that can be done about it then," he says. "We need a good long look by the Competition Bureau to make sure that this doesn't happen."

The bureau has said it will not stop the Viterra sale to Glencore, but it has yet