Some Bayer AG investors were surprised to learn about the thousands of farmers lining up before US courts to argue that Roundup - the blockbuster weedkiller the German company recently acquired when it bought Monsanto Co - had given them cancer. But Roundup is hardly the only chemical in Monsanto's portfolio carrying legal risks. There are also lawsuits aplenty for dicamba, its next bestselling herbicide, which US farmers are spraying on about 20.2-million ha of soya bean and cotton crops this summer to combat weeds that have become resistant to Roundup. Dicamba tends to vapourise after being sprayed and drift onto neighbouring fields, harming crops and other plants that aren't genetically modified to withstand its effects. More than 1-million soya bean acres are claimed to have been damaged this year as of mid-July, and last summer, that number was more than 3-million. Monsanto and other crop-chemicals companies have come up with formulations that they say will stay put when applie...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.