Glyphosate Controversy
Austrian lawmakers banned glyphosate, the key chemical in Roundup.
According to agrimarketing.com, that's a first in Europe and a fresh blow to Bayer AG, which has lost several lawsuits in the U.S. alleging the potent herbicide causes cancer. Bayer is currently facing lawsuits from over 13,000 plaintiffs. The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking comments on its proposed interim registration review of glyphosate that finds:
Glyphosate is a valuable tool for growers to manage weed growth, improve farm productivity and adopt environmental conservation-based practices. It is critical to support the agency's assessment that glyphosate is a beneficial tool for American agriculture. Activist groups certainly will be out in force to oppose EPA's decision. It's up to us to stand up and defend it.
The loss of glyphosate would present a significant challenge to farmers by reducing crop quality and reducing farm productivity and profitability.
Glyphosate is a widely adopted crop protection tool for farmers across many crops and growing systems. In 2019, 95% of cotton acres, 94% of soybean acres and 89% of corn acres planted were herbicide-tolerant crops.
