Monsanto Vs. Mother Nature
04/05/2010
Source: thebigmoney.com
Author: Dan Mitchell
The "superweeds" that are emerging on some U.S. farm fields threaten to strike at the heart of Monsanto's (MON) business. The company sells powerful herbicides under the Roundup brand, as well as seeds that have been genetically modified to withstand the herbicides.
But as the New York Times notes this morning, nature has a way of routing around efforts to rein it in. "Just as the heavy use of antibiotics contributed to the rise of drug-resistant supergerms," write William Neuman and Andrew Pollack, "American farmers’ near-ubiquitous use of the weedkiller Roundup has led to the rapid growth of tenacious new superweeds."
Some farmers are forced to use additional herbicides, which can be more toxic and environmentally destructive. And some are forced to pull weeds by hand like a backyard gardener, or to revert to traditional plowing. "We're back to where we were 20 years ago," one farmer told the Times.
That's the last thing Monsanto wants to hear. Roundup Ready crops are ubiquitous, representing 70 percent to 90 percent of corn, soybeans, and cotton grown in the United States. But that could change if the superweed problem grows. If farmers are forced to use other herbicides to combat the weeds, they have no incentive to use Monsanto's relatively pricey products.
The question is how big a threat the superweeds pose, and whether Monsanto can stay a step ahead of nature. "What we’re talking about here is Darwinian evolution in fast-forward," Mike Owen, a weed scientist at Iowa State University, told the Times.
Monsanto has always sold its products based on the idea that they reduce the need for pesticides and herbicides, and the need to plow under weeds. If those very products turn out to be causing the opposite result, the company's very business model could be at risk.
Here is the sole reaction from Monsanto in the Times article:
Monsanto, which once argued that resistance would not become a major problem, now cautions against exaggerating its impact. "It’s a serious issue, but it’s manageable," said Rick Cole, who manages weed resistance issues in the United States for the company.
It's not clear yet how bad the problem might become. Roundup-resistant superweeds were first discovered about a decade ago. Less than 6 percent of American fields are beset with them, according to the International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds, which gets its financing from the agrochemical industry.
Last month, the National Research Council issued a report concluding that, as of now, farmers planting genetically modified crops "are realizing substantial economic and environmental benefits—such as lower production costs, fewer pest problems, reduced use of pesticides, and better yields—compared with conventional crops."
But the report also warns that superweeds mean that modified crops "could lose their effectiveness unless farmers also use other proven weed and insect management practices."
Author: Dan Mitchell
The "superweeds" that are emerging on some U.S. farm fields threaten to strike at the heart of Monsanto's (MON) business. The company sells powerful herbicides under the Roundup brand, as well as seeds that have been genetically modified to withstand the herbicides.
But as the New York Times notes this morning, nature has a way of routing around efforts to rein it in. "Just as the heavy use of antibiotics contributed to the rise of drug-resistant supergerms," write William Neuman and Andrew Pollack, "American farmers’ near-ubiquitous use of the weedkiller Roundup has led to the rapid growth of tenacious new superweeds."
Some farmers are forced to use additional herbicides, which can be more toxic and environmentally destructive. And some are forced to pull weeds by hand like a backyard gardener, or to revert to traditional plowing. "We're back to where we were 20 years ago," one farmer told the Times.
That's the last thing Monsanto wants to hear. Roundup Ready crops are ubiquitous, representing 70 percent to 90 percent of corn, soybeans, and cotton grown in the United States. But that could change if the superweed problem grows. If farmers are forced to use other herbicides to combat the weeds, they have no incentive to use Monsanto's relatively pricey products.
The question is how big a threat the superweeds pose, and whether Monsanto can stay a step ahead of nature. "What we’re talking about here is Darwinian evolution in fast-forward," Mike Owen, a weed scientist at Iowa State University, told the Times.
Monsanto has always sold its products based on the idea that they reduce the need for pesticides and herbicides, and the need to plow under weeds. If those very products turn out to be causing the opposite result, the company's very business model could be at risk.
Here is the sole reaction from Monsanto in the Times article:
Monsanto, which once argued that resistance would not become a major problem, now cautions against exaggerating its impact. "It’s a serious issue, but it’s manageable," said Rick Cole, who manages weed resistance issues in the United States for the company.
It's not clear yet how bad the problem might become. Roundup-resistant superweeds were first discovered about a decade ago. Less than 6 percent of American fields are beset with them, according to the International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds, which gets its financing from the agrochemical industry.
Last month, the National Research Council issued a report concluding that, as of now, farmers planting genetically modified crops "are realizing substantial economic and environmental benefits—such as lower production costs, fewer pest problems, reduced use of pesticides, and better yields—compared with conventional crops."
But the report also warns that superweeds mean that modified crops "could lose their effectiveness unless farmers also use other proven weed and insect management practices."
