Lower glyphosate prices hurt Bayer sales
Bayer Group, a pharmaceutical and consumer health goods giant and one of the world’s largest seed and ag chemical companies, said on Tuesday that its sales had fallen by 3.1 billion euros in 2023, with lower herbicide prices as a factor. Sales by the crop sciences division, which accounts for half of Bayer’s revenue, were down by 1.9 billion euros, or 3.7 percent.
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.
Mexico’s dispute with U.S. over GMO corn has deep roots
The history of the current dispute between Mexico and the U.S. over genetically modified corn has roots much deeper than the presidential decree that set it off. Opposition to GMO crops in Mexico has simmered for twenty years, born of worries that ancient landrace varieties of corn that are central to the country’s social, cultural and economic well-being would be lost. (No paywall)
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.
Supreme Court refuses Bayer’s Roundup appeal, but another pending
The Supreme Court disposed of one Roundup appeal by Bayer on Tuesday but it will not be the final word in Bayer's attempts to shield itself from lawsuits alleging its weedkiller causes cancer. Another Bayer appeal was pending before the Supreme Court and the company suggested a case being heard by an appeals court in Atlanta could be the third.
Appeals court tells EPA to consider anew if glyphosate is carcinogenic
In a ruling hailed as a victory for farmworkers and monarch butterflies, the U.S. appellate court in San Francisco ruled the EPA lacked the evidence in 2020 to conclude that glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, does not cause cancer and ordered the agency to take a new look at the risks to humans. The three-judge panel also said the EPA violated federal law by failing to consult with wildlife agencies on how to limit the impact of the herbicide on threatened and endangered species.
Bayer asks Supreme Court to overturn Roundup verdict
As it promised last month, Bayer, the world's largest seed and agricultural chemicals company, asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to overturn the $25-million award to Edwin Hardeman, a California man who blamed Roundup herbicide for giving him cancer. The appeal is a key element in Bayer's plan to resolve billions of dollars of claims against Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world.
After court rebuff, Bayer tries new paths to resolve Roundup lawsuits
Health and chemical giant Bayer said it would pursue a five-point plan to mitigate its future litigation risks over Roundup herbicide, including a discussion of whether to remain in the lawn-and-garden market and a continued pursuit of settlements of lawsuits that allege the weedkiller causes cancer.
Bayer offers up to $2 billion to settle future Roundup lawsuits
In its second proposal to settle future lawsuits that allege its Roundup weedkiller is carcinogenic, seed and ag-chemical giant Bayer said on Wednesday that it would pay up to $200 million to individual claimants and a maximum of $2 billion overall to cover lawsuits filed in the next four years.
Block dicamba until weedkiller is under control, says report
The herbicide dicamba is too risky to use on row crops such as soybeans and cotton until independent research shows it won't evaporate and harm nearby crops and plants, said a report from three conservation and environmental groups on Wednesday. Dicamba is blamed for "off-target" damage on millions of acres of property, and the EPA is considering possible rules for its use on crops in the future.
Dicamba-resistant weeds established in western Tennessee
The fast-growing weed Palmer amaranth has developed a tolerance for dicamba herbicide in least five counties in western Tennessee and likely several others, said University of Tennessee weed specialist Larry Steckel on Monday. The report was a setback for dicamba, which was introduced a few years ago as a new tool for control of invasive weeds that showed resistance to glyphosate and other weedkillers.
Bayer abandons key provision in glyphosate settlement plan
Two weeks after agreeing to pay up to $9.6 billion to resolve thousands of cancer lawsuits against glyphosate, seed and ag-chemical giant Bayer is still looking for a way to handle future litigation against the weedkiller. A proposal to appoint a panel of experts to decide if glyphosate is carcinogenic — a pivotal question for cases filed in coming years — died on Wednesday following criticism from the federal judge handling the lawsuits.
Bayer to pay up to $11.3 billion to resolve glyphosate, dicamba litigation
Under the terms of an agreement announced Wednesday, seed and agribusiness giant Bayer will pay up to $10.9 billion to resolve lawsuits that accuse its Roundup herbicide of causing cancer, and an additional $400 million to settle litigation claiming crop damage caused by its dicamba weedkiller from 2015 to 2020.
Nearing end of review, EPA finds no risk to human health from glyphosate
Glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world, poses no threat to human health when used as directed and is unlikely to cause cancer, said the EPA in an interim decision on Thursday. Environmental groups denounced the decision as faulty.
In a boost for Bayer, U.S. to block warning labels on glyphosate
Chiding California regulators for "misleading labeling requirements," the EPA told herbicide makers to remove cancer warnings from containers of glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, in a step that would benefit seed and ag chemical giant Bayer. Meanwhile, a court-appointed mediator dismissed as "pure fiction" a report that the German company offered $8 billion to settle all U.S. lawsuits against Roundup, Bayer's glyphosate-based herbicide.
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.
Controversial pesticide use sees dramatic increase across the Midwest
Farmers have been using the weed killer glyphosate – a key ingredient of the product Roundup – at soaring levels even as glyphosate has become increasingly less effective and as health concerns and lawsuits mount. Nationwide, the use of glyphosate on crops increased from 13.9 million pounds in 1992 to 287 million pounds in 2016, according to estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey. (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.