Researchers link glyphosate to liver and metabolic disease in children
Researchers looking at health records and blood, urine and saliva samples found "an association between early-life exposure to glyphosate and liver inflammation and metabolic disease in young adults" in California's Salinas Valley, according to the lead scientist Brenda Eskanazi. Glyphosate is the most widely used weedkiller in the world.
EPA withdraws interim registration, but glyphosate remains in use
The EPA withdrew its interim approval of glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, while insisting that the herbicide is safe to use and does not cause cancer. In a court filing, the EPA said it would concentrate on completing the periodic review of glyphosate required by law, most likely in 2026.
Jury orders Monsanto, BASF to pay peach farmer $250 million in punitive damages
A federal jury determined that German agribusiness giants Bayer and BASF will have to pay $250 million in punitive damages to Bader Farms, the largest peach farm in Missouri, for damage caused by their dicamba-related products. The verdict comes at the end of a three-week trial of a case where Bader Farms alleges it is going out of business because of damage incurred by the companies' dicamba herbicides moving off of neighboring fields and harming their 1,000 acres of peach orchards.
Monsanto officials limited dicamba weedkiller testing, court testimony shows
Knowing federal regulators were paying attention to the new weedkiller's potential to contaminate other fields, Monsanto decided to “pull back” on testing to allow dicamba, according to testimony in the federal trial over the weedkiller. Bader Farms, the largest peach farm in the state, alleges that dicamba damaged their orchard.
Rogue GE wheat found in U.S. Northwest for fourth time since 2013
The USDA has never approved cultivation of genetically engineered wheat, yet for the fourth time since April 2013 a wheat strain resistant to the weedkiller glyphosate was found growing wild in the northwestern United States. The discovery could disrupt wheat exports and it raises questions about USDA's ability to police agricultural biotechnology.
Dicamba revisited: Will corn be the next herbicide debacle?
Dicamba-tolerant corn seeds aren’t available yet. But if the seeds reach the market, and tens of millions more acres are sprayed with dicamba, there’s good reason to expect a repeat of the soybean disaster, in which the highly volatile weedkiller drifted off-target and damaged 5 million acres of conventional soybeans and an untold number of other crops.(No paywall)
Federal jury awards $80 million in Roundup trial
In a bellwether trial, a federal jury found Monsanto liable for causing blood cancer in a man who used its Roundup weedkiller, and awarded the man, Edwin Hardeman, more than $80 million in damages, said The Recorder.
Claim: Monsanto and EPA slowed a safety review of glyphosate
Officials within EPA worked to slow a safety review of glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, in an apparent response to emails from Monsanto, which makes the chemical, said HuffPost. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, part of HHS, said in early 2015 that it planned to publish a toxicological review of glyphosate before winter of that year, but the review has yet to appear.
What does the Monsanto verdict mean for thousands of pending cases?
Last week’s $289-million verdict against Monsanto was a stunner. How might it affect the more than 4,000 other plaintiffs facing off against the agrichemical giant on charges that the company’s popular herbicide Roundup causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a common cancer that will likely kill nearly 20,000 people in the U.S. this year? (No paywall)
Dicamba weedkiller damages nearly 384,000 acres of soybeans
As farmers adopt dicamba-tolerant varieties of soybeans, there are fewer complaints of damage by the herbicide in soybean fields. But reports from 15 state departments of agriculture still indicate 383,840 acres of soybeans were damaged by dicamba this growing season. In addition, incidents …
Monsanto name left on dust heap of history
When Bayer completes its $63 billion purchase of Monsanto, which is expected to occur on Thursday, the world's largest seed and agricultural company will be named Bayer, announced the giant German company on Monday, ending speculation on the new corporate identify. "Monsanto will no longer be a company name."
GMO pioneer to leave Monsanto after Bayer takes over
Robert Fraley, who won the World Food Prize in 2013 for his role in the development of agricultural biotechnology, will leave Monsanto following its merger with Bayer, ending a 35-year career at the company.
EU to spell out antitrust concerns in Bayer take-over of Monsanto
EU regulators are looking "very carefully" at competition issues in Bayer's proposed purchase of Monsanto to make sure farmers will have a choice of products at affordable prices, said Bloomberg. The wire service said Bayer, based in Germany, was to receive a so-called statement of objections as soon as this week, which could lead the companies to offer a package of concessions.
Key U.S. panel sees no national security barriers to Bayer takeover of Monsanto
A special review panel of U.S. officials "has concluded there are no unresolved national security concerns" in the proposed purchase by German chemical giant Bayer of St. Louis-based Monsanto for $66 billion. "Bayer and Monsanto will continue to cooperate with the authorities in order to complete the transaction in early 2018," said a terse joint statement by the companies.
EU to review Bayer-Monsanto merger for seed and pesticide impact
Bayer’s $57 billion purchase of Monsanto, the latest in a wave of consolidation among seed and ag-chemical companies, faces an in-depth investigation by EU regulators over concerns the merger would result in higher prices and reduced competition in the seed, pesticide, and plant trait sector, said the Wall Street Journal.
Bayer plans large R&D spending if Trump administration approves takeover of Monsanto
The executives who want to create the largest seed and ag chemical company in the world told President-elect Donald Trump that they would spend at least $16 billion over six years on agricultural research in the United States if regulators approve Bayer's purchase of Monsanto.
To ease merger, Bayer expects to sell some of its seed business
The head of Bayer’s Crop Science division told a German newspaper that the company expects to sell some of its cotton and canola seed business in order to gain approval of its takeover of Monsanto, reported Reuters. The $66 billion merger of the two companies would create the largest seed …
Montana senator calls for rejection of Bayer-Monsanto merger
In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Montana Sen. Jon Tester says the government should deny on antitrust grounds Bayer's proposed $66 billion purchase of Monsanto, given that it would result in a company controlling nearly 30 percent of the world's seed market and a quarter of pesticide sales.