Reading Time: 2 minutes Bonn | Reuters — Bayer shareholders vented their anger over its stock price slump on Friday as litigation risks mount from the German drugmaker’s US$63 billion takeover of seed and chemical firm Monsanto. Several large investors said they will not support aspirin invesotr Bayer’s management in a key vote scheduled for the end of its […] Read more
Bayer shareholders vent ire over Monsanto-linked stock rout
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
U.S. jury says Bayer must pay $80 million to man in Roundup cancer trial
Reading Time: 3 minutes San Francisco/New York | Reuters –– A U.S. jury on Wednesday awarded US$80 million to a man who claimed his use of Bayer’s glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup caused his cancer, in the latest legal setback for the company facing thousands of similar lawsuits. The jury in San Francisco federal court said the company was liable for […] Read more
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
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
Bayer reaps profit lift from Monsanto
Reading Time: 2 minutes Leverkusen, Germany | Reuters –– Bayer’s US$63 billion purchase of seed and chemical firm Monsanto made its mark on the German company’s fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday, lifting profit and boding well for the peak season of its enlarged agriculture business. However, mounting litigation risks related to Monsanto still cast a pall over an adjusted […] Read more
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
U.S. judge to allow controversial evidence in Roundup cancer trials
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — A federal judge overseeing lawsuits alleging Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide causes cancer on Monday tentatively allowed pieces of controversial evidence that the company had hoped to exclude from upcoming trials. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria during a hearing in San Francisco federal court called his decision “probably most disappointing for Monsanto,” the Bayer […] Read more
Health Canada dismisses glyphosate objections
Reading Time: 3 minutes Health Canada’s 2017 decision requiring no major changes to product labels for glyphosate herbicide will stand, despite the objections filed in its wake. The federal health department said Friday it has reviewed eight notices of objection received after it released its final re-evaluation decision on glyphosate in April 2017. The objections were filed with Health […] Read more
Better herbicide tolerance technologies are on the way
Better technologies are coming, but we’ll need patience and shrewd management until they arrive
Reading Time: 4 minutes Count off the many challenges facing a farmer in any growing season and outside of weather conditions, the biggest impediment has to be weed management, particularly as it relates to herbicide tolerance. In spite of the importance of varietal or hybrid selection and fertility, and the potential for yield losses from insect pests and diseases, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
