Bayer’s cross symbol hangs in a terminal at Frankfurt International Airport. (Typhoonski/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

Bayer to invest $7.5 billion in new herbicides

Reading Time: < 1 minute Berlin | Reuters — Bayer said it would invest five billion euros (C$7.5 billion) in developing new weedkillers and reducing its environmental impact by 30 per cent by 2030, as it seeks to address the fallout from U.S. class-action litigation over glyphosate. “While glyphosate will continue to play an important role in agriculture and in […] Read more

(Jack Dykinga photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

USDA investigates unapproved GMO wheat in Washington state

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed the discovery of unapproved, genetically modified (GM) wheat plants growing in an un-planted agricultural field in Washington state. There was no evidence the wheat had entered the food supply, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a statement on Friday. The wheat […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

California jury hits Bayer with US$2 billion award

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — A California jury on Monday awarded more than US$2 billion to a couple who claimed Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide caused their cancer, in the largest U.S. jury verdict to date against the company in litigation over the chemical. It was the third consecutive U.S. jury verdict against the company in litigation over the […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Glyphosate not a carcinogen, U.S. EPA reiterates

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Tuesday that glyphosate, a chemical in many popular weed killers, is not a carcinogen, contradicting decisions by U.S. juries that found it caused cancer in people. The EPA’s announcement reaffirms its earlier findings about the safety of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Bayer’s […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. criticizes Vietnam ban of glyphosate imports

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago/Hanoi | Reuters — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Thursday criticized Vietnam’s move to ban imports of glyphosate-based herbicides, saying the decision would have “devastating impacts on global agricultural production.” Vietnam’s government said in a statement that the toxic level of herbicides containing glyphosate had long been of concern, in the latest display […] Read more

(Ablokhin/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: African swine fever paralyzes futures

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s next crop report due out March 29, market experts are looking to headlines for direction in the Chicago futures. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin return to China next week, with the goal of hammering out a trade deal in weeks to […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Second U.S. jury finds Bayer’s Roundup caused cancer

Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — A U.S. jury on Tuesday found Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide caused cancer, a blow to the company eight months after another jury issued a US$289 million verdict over similar claims in a different case. Tuesday’s unanimous jury decision in San Francisco federal court, which came after five days of deliberation, was not a […] Read more

Canada fleabane.

New in herbicides for 2019

The latest products on the market reflect a changing mindset in weed control

Reading Time: 3 minutes As winter gives way to spring, growers prepare for another season of weed management challenges. To help, here are new products for 2019, plus some released too late last spring for full distribution. Bayer Infinity FX Newly registered for 2019, Infinity FX is a combination of Infinity (bromoxynil + pyrasulfotole) and fluroxypyr, providing three active […] Read more


Plants on a coca plantation in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada. (James Wagstaff/iStock/Getty Images)

Colombian president defends use of glyphosate on coca crops

Reading Time: 2 minutes Bogota | Reuters — A judicial ban on aerial spraying of glyphosate herbicide to eliminate coca crops should be modified, Colombia’s President Ivan Duque said on Thursday, because expansion of the crop since the ban threatens peace efforts. The Andean country suspended aerial fumigation of coca, the raw ingredient in cocaine, with the Monsanto herbicide […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Brazil health officials find glyphosate non-cancerous

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brasilia | Reuters — Analysts at Brazilian health agency Anvisa have determined that glyphosate herbicide does not cause cancer while recommending exposure limits as international pressure to reduce use of the chemical grows. Companies such as Bayer and its unit Monsanto, which produces glyphosate-based weedkillers, have faced legal challenges over allegations that glyphosate causes cancer. […] Read more