Reading Time: 3 minutes London | Reuters — The latest dispute to blow up around the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concerns glyphosate, an ingredient in one of the world’s most widely-used herbicides, Roundup, made by Monsanto. In March 2015, an IARC monograph concluded that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic.” Yet seven months later the European Food Safety […] Read more
Scientists take sides: Who’s right about glyphosate?
European Parliament backs glyphosate, with conditions
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — European politicians advised on Wednesday that the herbicide glyphosate should only be approved for another seven years, rather than the 15 proposed by the EU executive, and should not be used by the general public. Environmental campaigners have demanded a ban on glyphosate, which is used in products such as Monsanto’s […] Read more
Germany backs EU plan to approve glyphosate
Reading Time: < 1 minute Berlin | Reuters –– Germany plans to back an European Union proposal that would allow the continued use of glyphosate in herbicides, according to a letter from the agriculture ministry. Glyphosate is used in many herbicides including Monsanto’s Roundup, but has provoked a dispute between EU and U.N. agencies over whether it might cause cancers. […] Read more
Monsanto cools on large-scale M+A outlook
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Monsanto on Wednesday effectively pulled itself out of the mergers-and-acquisitions flurry in the seeds and agrochemicals industry, nearly a year after making a bid for rival Syngenta. The St. Louis-based company, which also reported a drop in second-quarter earnings, now sees its best dealmaking opportunities in smaller acquisitions, licensing deals and […] Read more
Roundup Ready alfalfa primed for launch in East
Reading Time: 3 minutes The company with Roundup Ready alfalfa on its launchpad plans a limited rollout of commercial seed into Canada’s six eastern provinces this spring. In a move likely to face opposition from several farm groups across the country, Forage Genetics International (FGI) on Tuesday announced plans for a limited release of commercial HarvXtra alfalfa “in time for […] Read more
USDA clears Monsanto, Syngenta corn traits
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will no longer regulate a genetically-modified corn developed by Monsanto to resist dicamba herbicide, the agency said on Wednesday. The move by the agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), means it can now be planted without permits or any additional regulatory oversight from […] Read more
After twenty years has biotechnology really lived up to its promise?
The benefits of biotechnology have been undeniable to farmers, in spite of challenges from resistance
Reading Time: 6 minutes Farmers were practically guaranteed that we were entering a whole new era in agri-food production. Because of something called transgenics, we were going to have higher yields, lower costs, and all sorts of unimagineable farm efficiencies, not to mention that, thanks to this technology, we’d be able to feed the world. But 20 years later, […] Read more
The Corn Belt moves north
Monsanto has plans to produce varieties that can be grown on half the acres in Western Canada
Reading Time: 7 minutes It might not look like it at first glance, but this nondescript boardroom in a steel building beside a busy highway in southern Manitoba is the heart of the western Canadian corn pipeline. The site near Carman is home to Monsanto’s major corn expansion project, announced just over two years ago with much fanfare and […] Read more
EU defers decision on glyphosate safety
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Union on Tuesday put off a decision on whether to extend approval for glyphosate, used in herbicides including Monsanto’s Roundup, after a dispute between EU and U.N. agencies over whether it causes cancer. Experts from all 28 member states attended a closed-door meeting on Monday and Tuesday in Brussels, […] Read more
Monsanto threatens to exit India over GM royalty row
Reading Time: 2 minutes New Delhi | Reuters –– Monsanto, the world’s biggest seed company, threatened to pull out of India on Friday if the government imposed a big cut in royalties that local firms pay for its genetically modified cotton seeds. Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India), a joint venture with India’s Mahyco, licenses a gene that produces its own […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
