Plants on a coca plantation in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada. (James Wagstaff/iStock/Getty Images)

Colombian president defends use of glyphosate on coca crops

Bogota | Reuters — A judicial ban on aerial spraying of glyphosate herbicide to eliminate coca crops should be modified, Colombia’s President Ivan Duque said on Thursday, because expansion of the crop since the ban threatens peace efforts. The Andean country suspended aerial fumigation of coca, the raw ingredient in cocaine, with the Monsanto herbicide

(Dave Bedard photo)

Brazil health officials find glyphosate non-cancerous

Brasilia | Reuters — Analysts at Brazilian health agency Anvisa have determined that glyphosate herbicide does not cause cancer while recommending exposure limits as international pressure to reduce use of the chemical grows. Companies such as Bayer and its unit Monsanto, which produces glyphosate-based weedkillers, have faced legal challenges over allegations that glyphosate causes cancer.


(Merschman Seeds video screengrab via YouTube)

Corteva wins final OK for global launch of Enlist E3 soy

Chicago | Reuters — DowDuPont has won the final international regulatory approval needed, from the Philippines, for a global launch of a new line of genetically engineered soybeans, the company said on Thursday. The approval means seed companies can sell the soybeans, named Enlist E3, to farmers for planting as early as this spring without

(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. judge to allow controversial evidence in Roundup cancer trials

Reuters — A federal judge overseeing lawsuits alleging Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide causes cancer on Monday tentatively allowed pieces of controversial evidence that the company had hoped to exclude from upcoming trials. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria during a hearing in San Francisco federal court called his decision “probably most disappointing for Monsanto,” the Bayer



Manitoba Agriculture’s 2018 in-season survey now documents 12 municipalities with glyphosate-resistant kochia.

Glyphosate-resistant kochia confirmed in 12 municipalities in 2018

Testing is the only way to confirm how widespread glyphosate-resistant kochia is in Manitoba

When Tammy Jones’ phone rang last year as often as not it was farmers fed up with kochia spreading in their fields. The Manitoba Agriculture weeds specialist dubbed the tumbleweed ‘weed of 2018,’ in a talk at St. Jean Farm Days last week. “We saw a lot of it,” she said. “It felt like anyone


Grain Millers’ Saskatchewan milling plant at Yorkton. (GrainMillers.com)

Glyphosate raises milling questions

There’s more to the controversy surrounding glyphosate than whether the herbicide is safe to use or not: one miller has said it found oats and other grains treated with pre-harvest glyphosate don’t mill as well as untreated grains. Since 2015, Grain Millers Inc. has had a glyphosate-free policy on oats, said Eric Deblieck, a crop

(Dave Bedard photo)

Health Canada dismisses glyphosate objections

Health Canada’s 2017 decision requiring no major changes to product labels for glyphosate herbicide will stand, despite the objections filed in its wake. The federal health department said Friday it has reviewed eight notices of objection received after it released its final re-evaluation decision on glyphosate in April 2017. The objections were filed with Health


spraying farm field agriculture working equipment fragment

Opinion: The glyphosate challenge

The roller-coaster ride for the use of glyphosate continues due to recent rulings in California and Brazil. These decisions have been closely watched by both those who see the need to use this product and by those who are concerned about its effects on human health. Recently a California judge rejected Monsanto’s appeal of a

Comment: A more transparent regulatory system is key to public trust

The deepening controversy over glyphosate is only the tip of the iceberg

My parents decided in the mid-1980s that they wanted to do a better job of caring for the soils on our southern Manitoba farm — and tillage had to go. However, eliminating tillage meant coming up with another way of controlling weeds that would otherwise choke out a fledgling crop. One of the tools they