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The biggest, most valuable new technology on Midwestern farms these days is a new family of soybean seeds. But some farmers say they're buying these seeds partly out of fear.
A new lawsuit claims that the company Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, violated antitrust laws when it introduced the seeds. Bayer is asking the court to dismiss the complaint.
The seeds go by the trade name Xtend. They're worth an estimated billion dollars a year to Bayer.
For those who don't want to read or listen to the story, the short summary is as follows: Dicamba is an herbicide used as a weed killer. It is thought to spread far outside its targeted area. (Many academics and scientists say that is proven fact, Bayer disagrees, but irrespective of the truth of the matter, many farmers think it does.) Therefore after one farmer decides to use these seeds and herbicide, their neighbors need to use the same seeds out of fear of losing their crop to dicamba. Now this farmer can use dicamba as well and has no reason not to, so they do so, and the cycle repeats.
Resistance is... futile?
(Score: 2) by black6host on Friday February 08 2019, @01:07AM (3 children)
Well, it appears that Dicamba is most toxic when ingested, so no worries :) /s
Of course coffee is either bad for you or good for you depending on the day so I'm not sure we'll ever know the truth.
I do realize, as you've pointed out, that there are trade offs with respect to technology and the benefits it brings vs. the damage that can be done. When the decisions are made by those who control the purse strings (lobbying, court action, etc.) I tend to be skeptical as hell. I wonder if Bayer shouldn't team up with Dow Chemical and create something truly worthy...
(Score: 2) by black6host on Friday February 08 2019, @01:08AM
Sorry, forgot the link re: Dicamba
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/dicamba_gen.html [orst.edu]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday February 08 2019, @01:21AM
Monsanto-Dow-Comcast (MDC?)
"No more fearing the illegal Chinese organ harvesters, our products rot of all your insides"
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday February 08 2019, @04:16PM
Why can't coffee be both good for you and bad for you? Ok, as a net positive / net negative, who knows for sure. The one thing I do know is that you're likely much better off to give it up, if you have high blood pressure. Otherwise, it should be fine in modest quantities. I.E. Too much caffeine can make your heart "explode", just like any other stimulant.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"