(Dave Bedard photo)

EU starts in-depth probe of Bayer-Monsanto deal

Brussels/Frankfurt | Reuters — The European Commission has started an in-depth investigation of Bayer’s planned US$66 billion takeover of U.S. seeds group Monsanto, saying it was worried about competition in various pesticide and seeds markets. The deal would create the world’s largest integrated pesticides and seeds company, the Commission said, adding this limited the number […] Read more


(Syngenta.com)

China approves two more GMO crops for import

Beijing | Reuters — China has approved two more genetically modified (GMO) crops for import, the Ministry of Agriculture said, the second such move in the past month to expand access to biotech seeds as part of Beijing’s 100-day trade talks with Washington. The two new crops, approved from July 16 for a period of […] Read more

BASF’s dicamba production facility in Beaumont, Tex. (BASF.com)

Tennessee restricts dicamba use as problems spread

Chicago | Reuters — Tennessee on Thursday imposed restrictions on the use of dicamba, a flagship pesticide for Monsanto, to become the fourth state to take action as problems spread over damage the herbicide causes to crops not genetically modified to withstand it. Dicamba is sprayed by farmers on crops genetically modified to resist it […] Read more

BASF’s dicamba production facility in Beaumont, Tex. (BASF.com)

U.S. state-level dicamba bans temporary

A ban on dicamba applications in Missouri could end by the weekend, a state agriculture official said Monday. “The intent was never for this to be a long pause,” Missouri Agriculture Director Chris Chinn told the U.S. farm show Agritalk on Monday, after Missouri became the second state to announce such a ban so far […] Read more


BASF’s dicamba production facility in Beaumont, Tex. (BASF.com)

Two states ban dicamba after drift complaints

Reuters — Missouri joined Arkansas on Friday in banning the use and sale of dicamba after a rise in complaints that the herbicide is drifting into neighbouring fields and damaging crops, the states’ agriculture departments said Friday. Dicamba use and complaints about its use have spiked in the past two years in the U.S. More […] Read more

Speaking July 5 at the Crop Diagnostic School in Carman, Manitoba Agriculture’s Terry Buss shows a Roundup Ready 2 soybean plot dying due to dicamba drifting over from the Xtend soybean plot at left. (Allan Dawson photo)

Xtend soybeans expand options, but be dicamba-drift aware

New dicamba- and glyphosate-tolerant soybeans offer more weed control options and are another tool to address herbicide-tolerant weeds, but farmers need to take steps to avoid dicamba drift and spray tank residue, Manitoba officials say. What’s been happening in Arkansas underscores the risk dicamba drift presents. The U.S. state of Arkansas on Friday announced a […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Bayer files for Monsanto takeover approval with EU regulators

Frankfurt | Reuters — Bayer has filed a request for approval of its planned US$66 billion takeover of U.S. seeds company Monsanto with European Union regulators, as suitors line up for assets that Bayer will sell to get the approval by year-end. Bayer, which is bracing for the EU Commission to go into an in-depth […] Read more


(Photo courtesy BASF SE)

BASF ready to snatch seed bargains as rivals sell assets

Ludwigshafen, Germany | Reuters — BASF will consider buying seed assets that rivals are putting on the block to win antitrust approval for tie-ups, saying bargain prices could persuade BASF to overcome its traditional reluctance to expand into the seeds industry. Sources familiar with BASF’s thinking have said that competition regulators looking at potential buyers […] Read more

(CropScience.Bayer.ca)

Syngenta eyes Bayer assets to bolster seed operations

Basel | Reuters — Switzerland’s Syngenta, the crop protection company acquired by ChemChina, has vowed to bulk up its seeds business and join the chase for assets rival Bayer must sell to gain regulatory approval for its takeover of Monsanto. Syngenta, a distant third in the global seeds market behind Monsanto and Dupont, is determined […] Read more