(NaturalHealth365) Cover-ups, conspiracies, and clandestine efforts to stymie tests from third-party labs: it’s just another day in the life of Monsanto, the agrochemical company notorious for its dangerous arsenal of glyphosate-based weedkillers and herbicides. First it was Roundup; now it’s dicamba.  Is there no end to the killing season?

According to recent internal documents unearthed in a lawsuit brought by a Missouri farmer, Monsanto and the German chemical giant BASF knew for years that its dicamba herbicide would probably damage U.S. farms. Meanwhile, Monsanto did everything in its power to control the narrative and game the farming community, from ghostwriting papers to persuading outside academics to put their names on internally written research.

Monsanto’s internal emails predict crop damage and admit “voodoo science”

Weather, other pesticides, applicator misuse – for years Monsanto and BASF have blamed alleged crop damage on a host of factors. But the documents and internal emails that came to light when Missouri farmer Bill Bader won a $265m verdict against the agrochemical giant after alleging his peach trees were damaged by the illegal use of dicamba tell a far different story.

According to the Guardian, a 2015 document predicted  U.S. crop damage, estimating that dicamba damage claims from farmers would total more than 10,000 cases. At the same time, internal emails show Monsanto employees joked about “voodoo science”and “staying out of jail.”

Monsanto and BASF were aware of the catastrophic potential of dicamba drift. Execs anticipated it. Risks were downplayed. But how bad can it really be?

Rogue weedkiller threatens all vegetation that does NOT have dicamba-tolerant genes

Even a small amount of dicamba can vaporize and float across the landscape three days after application, causing a 30% to 40% yield reduction when it settles on an unintended crop. Mathematically, that works out to a $180 loss per acre, or about $100,00 for an average-sized farm.

Peach trees, tomato gardens, historic cypress trees – the rogue weedkiller has damaged all of them.  Sadly, in Arkansas, a dispute between neighboring farmers about dicamba use actually led to a fatal shooting.

So why did the EPA approve this weedkiller? 

The decision was based on “insufficient studies.”  Scientists’ warnings were ignored. In the end, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval was based on studies conducted by Monsanto and BASF.

Apparently, Monsanto controls both the White House and the U.S. Congress!

The revelations from Bill Bader’s successful lawsuit have led to a deluge of complaints about dicamba misuse, especially in the soybean farming belt, which stretches from Minnesota to Arkansas. It is believed that roughly five million acres of soybeans have been damaged by rogue dicamba drift.

Pesticide regulators are so overwhelmed by dicamba complaints that they’re asking the EPA for help. More than 100 farmers in the U.S. are currently engaged in litigation alleging Monsanto created a defective crop system.

For farmers, the agro-giant alternative is to use open source seeds and organic herbicides. Consumers, on the other hand, need to support small family farms and food co-ops, eat organic foods, and continue to sound the alarm about Monsanto.

Sources for this article include:

TheGuardian.com
NPR.com