California will add glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s blockbuster herbicide RoundUp, to its list of chemicals known to cause cancer, effective July 7, 2017. [1]
Monsanto promises to fight the listing, required under state law Proposition 65, calling the decision “unwarranted on the basis of science and the law.”
A panel of scientists with India’s Ministry of Environment said in a risk assessment of genetically modified mustard that the crop does not “pose any risk of causing any adverse effects on human and animal health and safety.” [1]
Mustard oil accounts for more than 10% of India’s cooking requirement of approximately 21 million metric tons.
The scientists have spoken, but not everyone is convinced that the information is accurate.
Soybean fields in parts of Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee are plagued by “superweeds” that have become resistant to glyphosate, the main ingredient in biotech company’s Monsanto’s RoundUp herbicide. Farmers are now dousing the plants with illegal chemicals to try and kill the rogue weeds.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has opened the door for farmers to plant MON87419, a new strain of genetically modified (GM) corn created by Monsanto to tolerate the weed killers dicamba and glufosinate without government oversight. The move will likely increase spraying of the herbicides.
A federal appellate court has now given Dow Chemical Company the green light to revive World War Two-era, weed-killing chemicals that will be sprayed on our crops to an even greater degree than the ones currently in use.
Dicamba herbicide was registered with the EPA in 1967. It contains 2,4-D, MCPP, and MCPA, all toxic chemicals that were marketed to kill specific, targeted weeds and nuisance pests on farms across America. But a new study from Penn State University has found that Dicamba herbicides drift to adjacent farms and fields, causing significant damage to non-targeted plant and pollinating insects.
While some people are sad about summer’s close – no more days spent poolside, shorter days and fewer and fewer fresh produce at roadside farm stands – others are just glad they won’t have to yank weeds out of the garden anymore. But what we should know for next time is that not all weeds are bad; in fact, some are quite healthy and can be beneficial.
Corncob bits instead of chemicals for weed control? Sounds like an interesting, if not slightly odd possibility, doesn’t it?
A billion dollars would feed a lot of people for a very long time, but instead, Monsanto will spend this absurd amount of money to build a new plant in Luling, Louisiana to produce weed-killing, and health-damaging dicamba.
