File photo of a cornfield in Mexico. (Roberto Cabrera/iStock/Getty Images)

Mexico opens door for GM corn in feed, industrial uses

U.S. 'disappointed' in Mexico's new decree

Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico on Monday scrapped a deadline to ban genetically modified corn for animal feed and industrial use amid trade tensions with the United States — but retained plans to prohibit use of the GM grain for human consumption, as well as the herbicide glyphosate. The move, approved in a government […] Read more

Around 20 per cent of Mexico’s corn imports from the U.S. are white corn, used to make food products such as tortillas. (Bhofack2/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. lawmakers call for action over Mexico’s GM corn ban

Mexico says it's working on revisions

Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — A group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers called on Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Friday to start consultations under the Canada-U.S.Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA) over Mexico’s ban on genetically modified (GM) corn and the herbicide glyphosate. The letter signed by 24 members of Congress and led by Republican Representative Adrian Smith […] Read more


Around 20 per cent of Mexico’s corn imports from the U.S. are white corn, used to make food products such as tortillas. (Bhofack2/iStock/Getty Images)

Mexico to rework decree on GM corn, economy minister says

GM corn, glyphosate bans now due to take effect in 2024

Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico has offered to extend a deadline to ban genetically modified (GM) corn until 2025 and is working on a proposal to overhaul its plan, Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro said on Wednesday. Buenrostro said President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had told the U.S. Mexico could delay the contentious GM corn […] Read more

“There are waterhemp populations, mostly in the States, that are resistant to nine different herbicide groups. At that point, you have no options left.” – Kim Brown Livingston.

Is the end of the chemical era drawing near for farms?

The future of weed control is going to require a more balanced approach

Reading Time: 6 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Chemical herbicides have long been the jewel in the crown of weed management, but after seven decades of use, natural selection is turning back the calendar. Herbicide resistance in weeds was first discovered in the 1980s and the problem has steadily increased. With no new chemistries introduced in more than 30 years, […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Bayer bid to toss Roundup suits

Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Bayer’s bid to dismiss legal claims by customers who contend its Roundup herbicide causes cancer as the German company seeks to avoid potentially billions of dollars in damages. The justices turned away a Bayer appeal and left in place a lower court decision that […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

U.S. EPA ordered to reassess glyphosate impact on health, environment

Decision doesn't prohibit Roundup's use

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was ordered by a federal appeals court on Friday to take a fresh look at whether glyphosate, the active ingredient in Bayer’s Roundup herbicide, poses unreasonable risks to humans and the environment. In a 3-0 decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with several environmental, farmworker […] Read more


Colin Smith says more growers need to understand the mode of action along with the growth characteristics of target weeds.

Feeling cut off from glyphosate supplies?

The good news is that a shortage opens possibilities for sharpening weed-management skills

Reading Time: 6 minutes As most growers and industry stakeholders have heard by now, reports of shortages of glyphosate and glufosinate have become common since late 2021. They’ve led to bulletins of price increases of 100 to 300 per cent for glyphosate in some areas, and recommendations for how to manage their herbicide programs for 2022. One reason for […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Link broken in glyphosate supply chain, Bayer says

Company provides heads-up on 'force majeure event'

Reading Time: 2 minutes No one is yet using the word ‘shortage’ but farmers may need to get ready for less Roundup temporarily, following a “force majeure” event at a plant supplying an ingredient in the recipe for glyphosate. Bayer, the chemical company whose Roundup brand remains the best known of the glyphosate herbicides, reported as much in an […] Read more


Grasshoppers chowing down at the edge of a wheat field in Manitoba in 2019. Farmers are likely the best judges of pest problems in each of their fields. They make multiple passes across them every year and likely have a better understanding of problems than could be achieved by a once-over scouting by a pesticide salesperson.

A better prescription for pesticides

Instead of more regulations, give farmers more information on better use of pesticides for each field and crop

Reading Time: 7 minutes This thought occurred to me as I was getting a prescription refilled. Even though I had used the drug previously, the pharmacist reviewed when and how often it was to be taken, and reminded me that it should be taken with food. This information was also clearly detailed on the label and an accompanying printout. […] Read more

Making flax harvest a little smoother

Making flax harvest a little smoother

An IHARF study looks at four pre-harvest options for dry-down and weed control

Reading Time: 4 minutes Harvestability and residue management problems discourage some producers from growing flax, but one solution may be a pre-harvest herbicide or desiccant. Flax stalks are fibrous and tough to cut or chop, says Chris Holzapfel, research manager at the Indian Head Agricultural Research Foundation (IHARF). “Sometimes the stalks can stay green for a long time, which […] Read more