Bayer’s cross symbol hangs in a terminal at Frankfurt International Airport. (Typhoonski/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

Bayer to invest $7.5 billion in new herbicides

Berlin | Reuters — Bayer said it would invest five billion euros (C$7.5 billion) in developing new weedkillers and reducing its environmental impact by 30 per cent by 2030, as it seeks to address the fallout from U.S. class-action litigation over glyphosate. “While glyphosate will continue to play an important role in agriculture and in



(Dave Bedard photo)

California jury hits Bayer with US$2 billion award

Reuters — A California jury on Monday awarded more than US$2 billion to a couple who claimed Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide caused their cancer, in the largest U.S. jury verdict to date against the company in litigation over the chemical. It was the third consecutive U.S. jury verdict against the company in litigation over the

(Dave Bedard photo)

Glyphosate not a carcinogen, U.S. EPA reiterates

Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Tuesday that glyphosate, a chemical in many popular weed killers, is not a carcinogen, contradicting decisions by U.S. juries that found it caused cancer in people. The EPA’s announcement reaffirms its earlier findings about the safety of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Bayer’s





(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. criticizes Vietnam ban of glyphosate imports

Chicago/Hanoi | Reuters — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Thursday criticized Vietnam’s move to ban imports of glyphosate-based herbicides, saying the decision would have “devastating impacts on global agricultural production.” Vietnam’s government said in a statement that the toxic level of herbicides containing glyphosate had long been of concern, in the latest display



U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is seeking the Democrats’ 2020 nomination for president, greets Ella Clare Campbell after speaking in Memphis on March 17, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Karen Pulfer Focht)

Democratic contender Warren targets corporate agriculture

Washington | Reuters — Democratic presidential contender Elizabeth Warren took aim on Wednesday at agricultural conglomerates, promising her administration would break up big agribusiness mergers that she said have hurt family farmers. Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts and a fierce Wall Street critic, released a broad plan that she said would make it easier

(Dave Bedard photo)

Second U.S. jury finds Bayer’s Roundup caused cancer

Reuters — A U.S. jury on Tuesday found Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide caused cancer, a blow to the company eight months after another jury issued a US$289 million verdict over similar claims in a different case. Tuesday’s unanimous jury decision in San Francisco federal court, which came after five days of deliberation, was not a