Twist upon twist in glyphosate battle: Next generation safer biopesticides on the way thanks in part to anti-chemical activists⁠—who may yet oppose them

Cameron English | July 8, 2019

As biotech firm Bayer battles more than 13,000 lawsuits alleging its popular weed killer Roundup (glyphosate) can cause cancer in farmers, there are widespread concerns that the legal battle could fuel additional restrictions on the herbicide and other pesticides.

The organic industry-funded anti-GMO advocacy group US Right to Know (USRTK), which has worked closely with the plaintiffs’ lawyers, has been clear that it’s not just going after a single weed killer; the group wants to handcuff conventional pesticide manufacturers with endless lawsuits, spur regulations and force growers to adopt organic farming practices, which they claim would lead to the use of fewer ‘toxic’ chemicals.

Many scientists and farmers fear that restrictions on glyphosate and other pesticides that have been declared safe by regulators and used for decades could force growers to turn to more expensive, less effective and more harmful solutions (including in some cases organic alternatives that are more toxic.) But not all the chaos created by myopic activists is necessarily bad. In an ironic twist, USRTK and its allies along the fringes of the environmental movement are speeding the development of new biologically based pesticides that prove both safe and almost as effective as synthetic counterparts.........To Read More....