Roundup is a household name in Canada. Most know it for being one of the more effective weed killers on the market.
But Roundup, whose main active ingredient is glyphosate, has made headlines recently for being on the receiving end of a class action lawsuit.
On Monday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified a lawsuit against Monsanto Company, Monsanto Canada ULC (now Bayer CropScience Inc.), and Bayer Inc, the three main companies that manufacture glyphosate-based herbicides.
The suit claims that glyphosate-based herbicides cause Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a cancer that starts in white blood cells.
The lawsuit first began in 2019. It’s made its way through the Canadian court system for the past six years. Last week, Bayer, who manufactures Roundup, warned farmers that they may cancel the product altogether due to legal costs.
Big changes are afoot for Albertan farmers and gardeners if Bayer’s promise comes true.
Hidden Benefits of Spraying
Farmers need solutions to get rid of the weeds. And for decades now, glyphosate has been the crowd favourite for the job.
Current questions about its impact on human health aside, glyphosate use has come with surprising benefits.
Rather than tilling the soil to kill weeds, many Albertan farmers now spray their land with glyphosate prior to planting. This is known as the no-till method. This method reduces labour and irrigation costs.
No-till farming also benefits soil quality. According to research done by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, “In a no-till system, the remains of the previous crop—such as husks and stalks—remain on the soil instead of being plowed under. This adds organic matter to the soil and prevents wind and water erosion.”
Soil also stores carbon dioxide (CO2). The no-till method keeps that CO2 in the soil.
If glyphosate goes off the market, many no-till farmers would be forced to reinvent their planting methods.
Addicted to Herbicides
For the second year in a row, Westlock County is reimbursing residents for the cost of herbicides that they use to kill Common Tansy. Tansy is an invasive species that is harmful to humans and livestock when consumed in large quantities.
Roundup is one product on the market that, when used correctly, can kill Common Tansy.
But there are many other ways of killing off the plant. The Nature Conservancy of Canada has put together an entire guide to tansy elimination.
“The most effective control methods are a combination of mowing or hand cutting with chemical control, as well as promoting competition by planting native vegetation,” their guide says.
Herbicides are only one small part of controlling tansy infestation. Still, municipalities such as Westlock are relying on them as their main line of defense.
Canada has committed itself to reducing pesticide use by 50% by 2030. Pesticide use has, in fact, risen 47% between 2011 and 2021. Herbicides such as Roundup are a sub-category of pesticide, and one step towards reducing their use would be for municipalities to promote non-chemical interventions such as taking out weeds by hand or planting native vegetation.
Farmers, too, can reduce their reliance on pesticides and herbicides. Researchers at the University of Manitoba published a paper in Canadian Plant Science as to how. Strategies such as tilling, using bacteria or fungi to control weeds, and crop rotation have all been proven to manage weeds, although not all as effectively as herbicides. Much research has also been done on how to use herbicides more efficiently.
No More Glyphosate
In 2021, researchers at McGill University found that, at its current concentration, glyphosate use is harmful to freshwater ecosystems. Some reports claim the product is lethal to frogs and other amphibians. A paper published by The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that “glyphosate strongly disrupts soil biology as it is toxic to beneficial microflora and earthworms.”
Moreover, it’s looking likely that glyphosate causes cancer.
Whether or not this is true remains to be determined in court. Until then, Albertans with a green thumb might need to reconsider their weed management strategies in case Roundup does indeed go off the market.
