Is the Sun Setting on Roundup Herbicide? Why It’s Possible

Could the agricultural industry soon see the sun set on Bayer’s Roundup brand of glyphosate? Based upon the evidence, it certainly seems possible, writes CropLife Editor Eric Sfiligoj. Check out what he has to say in this recent op-ed.

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But before getting into this speculation, some reflection is in order. Across the agricultural landscape, perhaps no other single product has been as canonized and demonized as glyphosate. In agricultural circles, this herbicide was a gamechanger. It helped to control many different varieties of weeds, improving crop yields along the way, and spawned an entire class of row crops, the Roundup Ready brand. From the brand’s widespread market explosion in the mid-1990s through today, glyphosate has become a mainstay of U.S. agriculture, with growers applying an estimated 300 million pounds of glyphosate to their fields each year, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Despite achieving this importance in agriculture, glyphosate and the biotech crops it collaborated with have been readily demonized by portions of the general public. Special interest groups have dubbed biotech crops as “Frankenfoods,” calling into question their safety. Likewise, despite numerous governmental safety studies being conducted over the decades, many people claim regularly using glyphosate caused them to develop certain forms of cancer. This has led to an unending string of lawsuits and jury judgements against the herbicide over the past few years.

In particular, the maker of Roundup glyphosate has borne the brunt of this negativity. For several years, this was Monsanto — a company that John Q. Public has often hated for some reason (remember the anti-aspartame campaign against the company’s NutraSweet brand?) And when Monsanto was acquired by Bayer (deal announced in 2016 and finalized in 2018), this negativity continued, with opponents often still employing the Monsanto name.

Given the numbers, it’s only natural that Bayer has been the target of this battle in court. According to the data, the company produces about 40% of the world’s glyphosate. Thus far, Bayer has set aside more than $16 billion for glyphosate settlements. And it estimated that there are 67,000 lawsuits still pending.

It is perhaps all this demonization of glyphosate that led to Bayer CEO Bill Anderson to hint that Roundup’s time in the company’s product portfolio might be coming to an end. Since taking over as CEO in 2023, Anderson has said one of his goals is to get the glyphosate litigation under control by 2026. Exiting glyphosate might be a first step toward this.

“We’re pretty much reaching the end of the road,” said Anderson in a recent Wall Street Journal interview. “We’re talking months, not years.”

Still, there have been a few recent developments that might yet save Bayer’s Roundup glyphosate. In April, North Dakota enacted HB 1318, a law that reinforced the authority of EPA’s science-based rulings that crop protection products are safe when used as directed. This would negate the need for additional local or state safety labels to be applied to products such as glyphosate — which has been a key component of many lawsuits against the herbicide. And Bayer itself has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to address this federal vs. state safety label issue when it comes to glyphosate.

So just maybe, Bayer’s Roundup brand will live to see another growing season or two.

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