Monsanto, BASF weed killers strain U.S. states with damage complaints
Source: Reuters
U.S. farmers have overwhelmed state governments with thousands of complaints about crop damage linked to new versions of weed killers, threatening future sales by manufacturers Monsanto and BASF SE.
Monsanto is banking on weed killers using a chemical known as dicamba - and seeds engineered to resist it - to dominate soybean production in the United States, the worlds second-largest exporter.
The United States has faced a weed-killer crisis this year caused by the new formulations of dicamba-based herbicides, which farmers and weed experts say have harmed crops because they evaporate and drift away from where they are applied.
Monsanto and BASF say the herbicides are safe when properly applied. They need to convince regulators after the flood of complaints to state agriculture departments.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pesticides-complaints/monsanto-basf-weed-killers-strain-u-s-states-with-damage-complaints-idUSKBN1D14N0
benld74
(9,917 posts)Stlposttoday ran article stating as much
sandensea
(21,848 posts)Sorry to hear that. Here's hoping farmers themselves see the corner they're painting themselves into.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)K&R.
sandensea
(21,848 posts)No progressive - or any other loyal American, for that matter - should be carrying water for the likes of Monsatan.
PatSeg
(47,883 posts)You'd think that would be a given on a progressive site, but just the mention of the name "Monsanto" brings out the most extraordinary apologists.
Thanks for posting!
sandensea
(21,848 posts)Just one look at the horrors that Monsatan products have visited in some agrarian countries like India and Argentina shows that we in the U.S. would do well to look at them as canaries in the coal mine for what we could expect if they keep buying out statehouse politicians.
We really need to start looking at our food security as part and parcel of national security.
PatSeg
(47,883 posts)and all livings things on it is probably beyond comprehension at this point. Yet when informed people protest Monsanto's activities, they are called anti-science by Monsanto advocates who in turn post a lot of scripted comments meant to demean and ridicule anyone who disagrees with them.
Just because something is a product of science, doesn't necessarily mean it is good for us. Nuclear weapons, Agent Orange, DDT, thalidomide, lead paint, etc. Meanwhile, Monsanto has a terrible track record over the years.
sandensea
(21,848 posts)And who bought them out recently? Why, Bayer (the erstwhile IGFarben), of course.
PatSeg
(47,883 posts)Never better.
benld74
(9,917 posts)Farmers who used
Farmers who didn't use, but had crops affected
People who work for Monsanto for years who gave Monsanto products as prizes in local school fund raising functions
People who work for Monsanto as Monsanto lawyers. WHAT they protect for Monsanto is not known.
sandensea
(21,848 posts)They know that what they're doing is a high-tech salting the earth, as it were. The fact that Bayer - the IGFarben spinoff - bought them out recently, should only add to one's suspicions as to their long-term intentions.