EPA to place restrictions on glyphosate due to weeds developing resistance

Waterhemp in soybean stubble x
Waterhemp in soybean stubble

U.S. regulators will put new restrictions on the world’s most widely used herbicide to help address the rapid expansion of weeds resistant to the chemical, Reuters has learned.

The Environmental Protection Agency confirmed it will require a weed resistance management plan for glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s immensely popular Roundup weed-killer.

The agency has scheduled a conference call with a committee of the Weed Science Society of America to discuss what the final plan for glyphosate should entail, said Larry Steckel, a Tennessee scientist who chairs the committee.

At least 14 weed species and biotypes in the United States have developed glyphosate resistance, affecting more than 60 million acres of U.S. farmland, according to data gathered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. weed scientists. The herbicide-resistant weeds hinder crop production and make farming more difficult and expensive.

At least 283.5 million pounds of glyphosate were used in U.S. agriculture in 2012, the most recent year for which data is available, up from 110 million pounds in 2002, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (reut.rs/1NcACgm) According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 90 percent of the soybeans and cotton grown in the United States last year, and 89 percent of the corn, was genetically modified to withstand herbicide applications.

Read full, original article: EPA will require weed-resistance restrictions on glyphosate herbicide

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