Dow

The potential merger of industrial giants Dow and Dupont "would merge two agricultural chemicals businesses and fold in DuPont's seeds business, analysts said, bringing a close look from regulators. Farmers said they were concerned about higher prices for seeds and chemicals," reported Reuters.

En route to approving the herbicide 2,4-D for use on new GMO strains of corn and soybeans, EPA scientists "changed their analysis of a pivotal rat study by Dow, tossing aside signs of kidney trouble that Dow researchers said were caused by 2,4-D," said an investigative report in the Chicago Tribune.

The giant seed company Monsanto will close three research and development centers, in Wisconsin, Connecticut and North Carolina, this year in a cost-cutting move, reports Reuters. About 90 jobs will be eliminated.

A coalition of nine environmental and consumer groups says it submitted more than 500,000 comments in opposition to a Dow weedkiller that combines the herbicides glyphosate and 2,4-D. The Environmental Protection Agency says it hopes to make a final decision later this year, "perhaps by late summer or early fall," on the Enlist Duo weedkiller. It tentatively has decided the herbicide is safe for use.

Two major seed companies say they don't plan to use Dow's genetics that allow soybeans to tolerate the herbicides 2,4-D and glyphosate, says Bloomberg.

The developer of biotech corn and soybean varieties that tolerate 2,4-D and glyphosate pesticides said it is putting restriction on sales of the seeds to prevent the crops from moving into the marketing channel, said Reuters.

An official at Dow AgroSciences says the company decided to restrict sales of its new genetically engineered Enlist corn and soybeans after "extensive talks with U.S. grain leaders who fear roiling trade with China," says Reuters.

Seed companies Monsanto and Dow filed suit in U.S. District Court in Honolulu to overturn a voter-approved moratorium on genetically engineered crops in Maui County, Hawaii, said the Maui Times.

The Agriculture Department approved for sale two soybean varieties and one corn variety genetically engineered by Dow to tolerate the weedkiller 2,4-D, a widely used herbicide. The varieties would be an alternative to Monsanto's GE crops that resist glyphosate. There are reports of "superweeds" that survive spraying with glyphosate. The Center for Food Safety, a foe of GE crops, said it "will pursue all available legal options to stop commercialization of these dangerous crops." Opponents say 2,4-D poses health and environmental risks, including its own version of herbicide-resistant weeds.

One year after launching the GMO Answers campaign on social media, "U.S. companies that develop GMOs have further committed to a multimillion-dollar campaign to defeat attempts to add GMO labels" to genetically engineered foods, says Reuters. A spokeswoman for GMO Answers says member companies have agreed to spend millions of dollars "for several more years on this campaign," says the story.