File photo of a cornfield in Mexico. (Roberto Cabrera/iStock/Getty Images)

Mexico opens door for GM corn in feed, industrial uses

U.S. 'disappointed' in Mexico's new decree

Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico on Monday scrapped a deadline to ban genetically modified corn for animal feed and industrial use amid trade tensions with the United States — but retained plans to prohibit use of the GM grain for human consumption, as well as the herbicide glyphosate. The move, approved in a government […] Read more

Around 20 per cent of Mexico’s corn imports from the U.S. are white corn, used to make food products such as tortillas. (Bhofack2/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. lawmakers call for action over Mexico’s GM corn ban

Mexico says it's working on revisions

Mexico City | Reuters — A group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers called on Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Friday to start consultations under the Canada-U.S.Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA) over Mexico’s ban on genetically modified (GM) corn and the herbicide glyphosate. The letter signed by 24 members of Congress and led by Republican Representative Adrian Smith […] Read more


Around 20 per cent of Mexico’s corn imports from the U.S. are white corn, used to make food products such as tortillas. (Bhofack2/iStock/Getty Images)

Mexico to rework decree on GM corn, economy minister says

GM corn, glyphosate bans now due to take effect in 2024

Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico has offered to extend a deadline to ban genetically modified (GM) corn until 2025 and is working on a proposal to overhaul its plan, Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro said on Wednesday. Buenrostro said President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had told the U.S. Mexico could delay the contentious GM corn […] Read more



(File photo by Dave Bedard)

U.S. EPA ordered to reassess glyphosate impact on health, environment

Decision doesn't prohibit Roundup's use

Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was ordered by a federal appeals court on Friday to take a fresh look at whether glyphosate, the active ingredient in Bayer’s Roundup herbicide, poses unreasonable risks to humans and the environment. In a 3-0 decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with several environmental, farmworker […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Link broken in glyphosate supply chain, Bayer says

Company provides heads-up on 'force majeure event'

No one is yet using the word ‘shortage’ but farmers may need to get ready for less Roundup temporarily, following a “force majeure” event at a plant supplying an ingredient in the recipe for glyphosate. Bayer, the chemical company whose Roundup brand remains the best known of the glyphosate herbicides, reported as much in an […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Supreme Court asks U.S. government for views on Roundup case

Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked President Joe Biden’s administration for its views on whether the justices should hear Bayer’s bid to dismiss claims by customers who contend its Roundup herbicide causes cancer, as the company seeks to avoid potentially billions of dollars in damages. Bayer in August filed a […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Bayer wins second straight verdict in a Roundup cancer case

Plaintiff's settlement demands unreasonable, company said

Reuters — A California jury found that Bayer’s Roundup herbicide was not the cause of a woman’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Bayer said on Thursday, delivering the chemical giant its second trial victory over claims the popular herbicide causes cancer. The jury in San Bernardino County found that Donnetta Stephens’ cancer was not caused by her exposure […] Read more


Bayer’s cross symbol hangs in a terminal at Frankfurt International Airport. (Typhoonski/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

Bayer sees farmers pre-buying inputs as supply-chain snarls continue

Chicago/Berlin | Reuters — U.S. farmers are pre-buying seeds and chemicals they need earlier than normal, in a bid to secure supplies for next spring amid sector-wide supply-chain problems, a top executive at German agricultural and pharmaceuticals firm Bayer said Tuesday. Bayer also estimates its average seed prices will go up about five per cent […] Read more