Monsanto Provides Soybean Farmers With Options, but not Without Risks

Monsanto Co. now gives farmers more herbicide options with their Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans. These seeds have engineered tolerance to both glyphosate and dicamba herbicides. Monsanto wants to recapture market share after their first generation Roundup Ready traits for soybeans patent expired in 2015. Glyphosate usage is slipping due to the proliferation of herbicide-resistant weeds and controversy surrounding its potential to cause cancer. Generic forms of glyphosate have only exacerbated the problem. Capitalizing on growing dicamba usage, Monsanto now includes the dicamba tolerance trait in their new soybean seeds. At approximately one-fifth of its profits, Monsanto’s total net sales of soybean seeds were $2.67 billion in 2017. However, dicamba is not without controversy. The weedkiller is extremely volatile and can damage crops in neighboring fields through what’s being called “dicamba drift.” Both Arkansas and Missouri have banned its use. As the war over herbicide choice continues, Gro Intelligence provides subscribers with the data and analysis necessary to stay ahead of soybean production trends.