BAYRY Bayer Aktiengesellschaft (PK)

By Jacob Bunge 

Farmers are standing by Bayer AG's Roundup herbicide despite rulings from two juries that the world's most widely used weedkiller caused cancer in plaintiffs.

The chemical, used on the vast majority of corn, soybean and cotton acres planted in the U.S., remains prized by farmers for its low cost and effectiveness.

"I don't have any concerns with safety," said Danny Murphy, who raises soybeans and corn near Canton, Miss. Mr. Murphy on Wednesday was preparing to apply glyphosate to his soybean fields after a bout of wet weather over the past week delayed his work.

A U.S. District Court jury in San Francisco on Tuesday found that exposure to Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, caused a man's cancer. It was the second such ruling since July against Bayer, which markets Roundup and is one of the world's biggest glyphosate suppliers. The company faces more than 11,000 similar lawsuits filed by U.S. farmers, landscapers and gardeners.

Farmers in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and other countries have boosted their use of glyphosate since the mid-1990s, when seed and pesticide maker Monsanto introduced crops genetically engineered to survive the chemical. Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, said farmers know how to use glyphosate safely.

"They are well-educated on this subject and know that regulators around the world have examined glyphosate's safety and concluded that it can be used safely," a spokesman said.

Biotech crops helped make glyphosate the most widely used weedkiller in the world, accounting for around $5 billion in annual global sales, or roughly one-fifth of the entire global pesticide market, according to Sanford C. Bernstein analysts.

Regulators like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the European Chemicals Agency have deemed it safe to use, including in reassessments in recent years. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015 classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen, raising concerns over its safety and fueling lawsuits against Bayer.

Using mechanized spraying equipment, U.S. farmers apply nearly 300 million pounds to their fields annually, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey. In the U.S., more than 90% of corn, soybean and cotton acres are genetically engineered to withstand herbicides, mostly glyphosate.

Farmers say they prefer glyphosate to harsher weedkillers such as paraquat and atrazine. Those chemicals tend to linger in soils and don't break down as quickly as glyphosate, farmers say. Glyphosate also has been regarded as less toxic to humans.

So far, the jury verdicts haven't affected glyphosate sales in the U.S. Farm Belt, where skepticism of lawyers and lawsuits often runs high. Some farmers worry that lawsuits could drive glyphosate prices higher if manufacturers like Bayer raise prices to cover litigation costs or that regulators could add new restrictions on how it is sprayed.

Near Waverly, Iowa, Mark Mueller said he considers the herbicide essential to sustainably farming his 1,600 acres. For the past decade, Mr. Mueller said, killing off weeds with Roundup has allowed him to stop tilling his corn and soybean fields each fall, a practice that can raise the risk of erosion washing away valuable topsoil.

Similar reasons have increased glyphosate use among overseas farmers, including Karen Williams, who raises sheep, cattle and crops on 580 acres just north of New Zealand's capital city of Wellington. Spraying glyphosate and avoiding tilling has helped reduce soil lost to high winds, she said.

"If you take that [herbicide] out of the toolbox we would have to completely redesign our farming system," said Ms. Williams.

Jay Feldman, executive director of Washington-based advocacy group Beyond Pesticides, said many corn and soybean producers don't see ready alternatives to glyphosate. A five-year downturn in the U.S. farm economy has left farmers reluctant to deviate from established products, he said, and many remain invested in biotech seeds designed for use with the spray.

"Farmers feel like they're locked into these practices and don't have a choice," Mr. Feldman said. He said the rising focus on glyphosate has helped drive sales in the organic sector, where glyphosate isn't used.

--Lucy Craymer contributed to this article.

Write to Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 21, 2019 09:52 ET (13:52 GMT)

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