A soybean plantation in Brazil. Genetically modified soybeans that rely on glyphosate for weed control are planted across the country.  (MailsonPignata/iStock/Getty Images)

Brazilian court overturns ban on glyphosate

Brasilia | Reuters — A Brazilian court on Monday overturned an injunction banning products containing the herbicide glyphosate, knocking down a previous ruling that had been set to disrupt the soy planting season set to begin this month. A Brazilian judge ruled last month to halt the registration of new glyphosate-based products in the country […] Read more

(Bayer.com)

Roundup cancer verdict sends Bayer shares sliding

    Frankfurt | Reuters — Bayer shares plunged as much as 14 per cent on Monday, losing about US$14 billion in value, after newly acquired Monsanto was ordered to pay US$289 million in damages in the first of possibly thousands of U.S. lawsuits over alleged links between a weedkiller and cancer. After the verdict […] Read more

Plaintiff Dewayne Johnson listens as attorney Brent Wisner, not shown, speaks about his condition at trial in San Francisco on July 9, 2018. (File photo: Josh Edelson/Pool via Reuters)

Glyphosate maker Monsanto ruled liable in U.S. cancer trial

Reuters — A California jury on Friday found Monsanto liable in a lawsuit filed by a man who alleged the company’s glyphosate-based herbicides, including Roundup, caused his cancer and ordered the company to pay US$289 million in damages. The case of school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson was the first lawsuit to go to trial alleging glyphosate […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. judge allows Roundup-related suits to go to trial

Reuters — Hundreds of lawsuits against Monsanto Co. by cancer survivors or families of those who died can proceed to trial, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday, finding there was sufficient evidence for a jury to hear the cases that blame the company’s glyphosate herbicide for the disease. The decision by U.S. District Judge Vince […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

With deal to close this week, Bayer to retire Monsanto name

Frankfurt | Reuters — Germany’s Bayer will wrap up the US$63 billion takeover of Monsanto on Thursday and also retire the U.S. seed and chemical firm’s 117-year-old name. The German drugmaker had received all required approvals from regulatory authorities, it said in a statement on Monday. “Bayer will remain the company name. Monsanto will no […] Read more

Bayer’s wheat breeding station at Pike Lake, Sask., southwest of Saskatoon. (Cropscience.bayer.com)

Canada clears Bayer’s Monsanto play, with conditions

Canada’s Competition Bureau says it’s “actively reviewing” BASF’s suitability as a buyer of the crop seed and chemical assets Bayer has to sell to get the bureau’s blessing to buy Monsanto. The Competition Bureau said Wednesday it has an agreement with Bayer to deal with “concerns that the proposed transaction would have significantly harmed competition […] Read more

(Pabradyphoto/iStock/Getty Images)

Bayer wins U.S. nod for Monsanto deal to create ag giant

Frankfurt/Washington | Reuters — Bayer won U.S. approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto after agreeing to sell about US$9 billion in assets, clearing a major hurdle for the US$62.5 billion deal that will create by far the largest seeds and pesticides maker. Makan Delrahim, who heads the U.S. Justice Department’s (DoJ) antitrust division, said […] Read more


(Bayer.com)

Bayer cuts Monsanto synergy target on divestments

Bonn | Reuters — Bayer said positive synergy effects from the planned takeover of U.S. seeds and chemical firm Monsanto would be about US$300 million below its previous target because it will sell more businesses than initially expected to get antitrust approval. Bayer CEO Werner Baumann again threw his weight behind the deal, despite higher […] Read more

(iStock/Getty Images)

EU nations back ban on all outdoor neonic use

Brussels | Reuters — European Union countries backed a proposal on Friday to ban all use outdoors of insecticides known as neonicotinoids that studies have shown can harm bees. The ban, championed by environmental activists, covers the use of three active substances — imidacloprid, developed by Bayer CropScience; clothianidin, developed by Takeda Chemical Industries and […] Read more