Monsanto's PR problem...

[grnidone]

John Deere is putting a lot of money into robotics/ AI.  It's genius, and I'm glad to see it.

[rcjordan]

weed robots in the field. worth a watch

https://gfycat.com/hoarsewiltedalleycat-r-sciences

[rcjordan]

Bayer invests in Roundup alternatives - St. Louis Business Journal
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2019/06/17/bayer-s-latest-strategy-to-blunt-monsanto-roundup.html

[rcjordan]

Disturbing: weedkiller ingredient tied to cancer found in 80% of US urine samples
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/09/weedkiller-glyphosate-cdc-study-urine-samples

[ergophobe]

glyphosate is not the only problem...

Neonic Nation: Is Widespread Pesticide Use Connected To Grassland Bird Declines?
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/neonic-nation-is-widespread-pesticide-use-connected-to-grassland-bird-declines

*Neonic > neonicotinoids - nicotine-based pesticides which often includes seed coatings that result in the whole plant being infused with the pesticide and, according to a friend who was working on such things, could include crops genetically engineered to produce nicotinoids

But it's not just a concern for insects; if swallowed, a neonic-treated kernel of corn is enough to kill a jay-sized songbird, and as few as four pinhead-sized canola seeds, treated with neonics, can cause a host of sublethal effects in a sparrow-sized bird, interfering with avian metabolism, migration, fat deposition, and reproduction. Because most of the insecticide applied to a seed comes off in the soil—and because neonics are both highly persistent in the environment and easily soluble in water—they are increasingly ubiquitous in many rivers, streams, and lakes, harming populations of emergent insects on which aerial insectivores like swallows, swifts, and flycatchers depend. Not surprisingly, many ornithologists see a link between pesticide use and the fact that grassland birds, the group that may be most directly exposed to agricultural pesticides, have declined by more than half since 1970.

[rcjordan]

Silent Spring II

[rcjordan]

People exposed to weedkiller chemical have cancer biomarkers in urine – study | US news | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/20/glyphosate-weedkiller-cancer-biomarkers-urine-study

[ergophobe]

Class action suit to follow...

[rcjordan]

<warp>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/01/27/roundup-monsanto-bayer-cancer-claim/

Bayer ordered to pay $2.25 billion after jury links Roundup to cancer - The Washington Post

[ergophobe]

In the cases of cancer patients Dewayne Johnson, Edwin Hardeman and Alva and Alberta Pilliod, jurors sided with the plaintiffs and awarded them tens of millions – and even billions – of dollars, though judges later reduced those award amounts, saying they were too excessive.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/29/us/roundup-cancer-verdict-philadelphia-bayer-monsanto/index.html

I'd be surprised if that amount stands.

I also wonder what will replace RoundUp if it is pulled from the market and whether that herbicide will be better or worse.

How Much Money Does Monsanto Make From Roundup? (2016 article with 2015 data)
https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/05/26/how-much-money-does-monsanto-make-from-roundup.aspx

Spoiler alert: $1.9b in gross profits from herbicides, most of which came from RoundUp, and another $6.8b in gross profits from seeds, much of which comes from RoundUp Ready seeds.

In 2016, in the face of growing glyphosate resistance, Monsanto was building a $1b dicamba plant to create a glyphosate-dicamba combo as they had engineered seeds resistant to both glyphosate and dicamba (Roundup Ready 2 Xtend).

And The Fool notes... "These data reflect the fact that Monsanto is only one of dozens of glyphosate manufacturers, most of which reside in China."

[ergophobe]

*that is to say, "growing glyphosate resistance" among weeds, not the public, though that may turn out to be the bigger resistance problem.

[rcjordan]

>replace

IIRC, there is a pesticide with known collateral damage to the environment (bees, I think) that even the EU keeps giving extensions for use because there is no 'safer' effective replacement.  I expect that's what will happen to glyphosate.

Farmers (and landscapers & homeowners) are addicted to the stuff.  Here's how the farmers buy it....
https://www.bfgsupply.com/order-now/product/0/75958/roundup-pro-concentrate-265gal-ibc
I see farm flatbed trucks with 2-3 of these glyphosate totes loaded when it is time to do a little weeding.

>China

Plenty of unknown brands on Amazon last time I looked.

[ergophobe]

You're probably thinking about the neonicotinoids. I know for a while they were working on genetically engineering plants to produce their own, which means it's not just a surface coating. Yummy neonicotinoids all the down

[rcjordan]

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/eu-scraps-pesticide-proposal-in-another-concession-to-protesting-farmers

EU scraps pesticide proposal in another concession to protesting farmers | PBS NewsHour

[grnidone]

>*that is to say, "growing glyphosate resistance" among weeds, not the public, though that may turn out to be the bigger resistance problem.

This is a HUGE problem. Palmer Amaranth is a weed with thousands of seeds. It can take over a pasture in a summer and grow big enough to break a combine sickle in a few short months. It's damn near resistant to everything, but it can be choked out with oats as a cover crop.

Dad found that by accident when there was a grasshopper plague. In the areas of hte field where the grasshoppers got the oats was Amaranth. The rest of the field was clear.