Roundup Is Losing in Court But Farms Aren't About to Give It Up
Roundup Is Losing in Court But Farms Aren't About to Give It Up
(Bloomberg) -- While the world’s No. 1 weedkiller has been losing in court of late, it’s still the big winner in the agricultural world.
No matter what happens with the 11,000-plus lawsuits plaintiffs have filed alleging the chemical in Roundup caused them cancer, farmers around the world are still going to keep using it, said Christopher Perrella, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Glyphosate, the active ingredient, was the wonder drug of agriculture when it was discovered in the 1970s. It could kill almost all weeds in farmers’ fields, something no other herbicide could do. Although Roundup is getting all the headlines for safety concerns, the chemical replaced harsher and more toxic herbicides, Perrella said. In other words, alternatives are far worse.
In addition, because glyphosate is so effective, farmers don’t have to till soil to control weeds, which means plowing up 30 million to 40 million acres of land in the U.S. each season. That benefits the environment by keeping moisture in the soil and preventing erosion and runoff, according to Robert Fraley, former chief technology officer of Monsanto Co.
While farmers may keep on keeping on, residential use of Roundup is probably more at risk in the near term, Perrella said. Still, even if ordinary consumers stop using it their garden, that isn’t Bayer’s bread and butter business.
What Bloomberg Intelligence Says“That’s a small fraction of the legacy Monsanto business, so that won’t have a significant impact on the results. But it certainly is having a a big impact on the market cap of Bayer.”
-- Christopher Perrella, Chemicals analyst
To contact the reporter on this story: Lydia Mulvany in Chicago at lmulvany2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Attwood at jattwood3@bloomberg.net, Tina Davis
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.