Roundup

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Primrose
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Today's Sunday Telegraph reports that an American court has just ruled that Roundup DID cause a man's terminal Non Hodgkins cancer. The case found that Monsanto failed to warn consumers about known risks. Monsanto are appealing.

Apparently B&Q were already reviewing its policy to stock the product before the verdict despite it still being legal in the EU so I imagine it will quickly disappear from the shelves there. No doubt those who rely on it for removing stubborn weeds will now be acquiring a stock while it's still available in case other suppliers do the same.
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Tony Hague
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Funny business this. A jury of ordinary people expected to weigh far from conclusive scientific evidence on the safety or otherwise of an agrochemical ? Bayer are surely right to appeal.

In the meantime, the anti-glyphosate backlash in France is having peculiar effects. We are working on an agricultural sprayer that uses machine vision to target just the weeds, avoiding the crop. Glyphosate is ideal for this. But the French customers won't have it, and instead use a cocktail of other herbicides, each of which is probably worse than glyphosate, but the consumer has not yet heard of them!

The use of glyphosate that troubles me is pre-harvest in cereals, to make the harvest easier by killing weeds, but also to desiccate the crop, reducing drying costs. This is common practice and surely must leave large residues. In order to be able to use small, targetted amounts of glyphosate amongst young crops, we had to analyse the amount of crop contamination by adding water soluble dye, then dissolving it off in water to test by colorimetry the amount. Also samples had to be tested for residues of glyphosate and its metabolites. And this despite the fact that any contaminated young plants probably wouldn't survive to harvest anyway. But on cereals, you can slop it on pre harvest. Makes no sense.
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It was on the news last night, incredible payout for the poor man. I think Monsanto will appeal & ask for proof that he used the product correctly with the right clothes, wind conditions etc. That would be hard for him to prove. Like you I shall be getting a wee stock just in case & some weeds just laugh at the other products available.
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Tony Hague wrote:Funny business this. ........
The use of glyphosate that troubles me is pre-harvest in cereals, to make the harvest easier by killing weeds, but also to desiccate the crop, reducing drying costs. This is common practice and surely must leave large residues.......... But on cereals, you can slop it on pre harvest. Makes no sense.


Tony that has bothered me ever since I found out about it from a farming friend some years ago.
It is a stupid use in my view, just bite the energy bullet for drying.
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The case did strike me as typically American, with a huge sum awarded, that most people know will be reduced or overturned at a higher court. Quite how that figure was arrived at, even if you accept the verdict as justified I have no idea, surely few earn that sum in a lifetime, outside the financial industry.

I use glyphosate, but as little as possible and as close to point application as I can (things like bindweed and couch where the roots are deeper than digging can practically reach and on ivy growing over and through a wall)
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