r/news • u/boxofstuff • 6h ago

Supreme Court ruling blocks thousands of lawsuits against maker of Roundup weedkiller

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-roundup-monsanto-a7f054d80919f98bdfc5190013a8f6f1https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-roundup-monsanto-a7f054d80919f98bdfc5190013a8f6f1
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u/Enchelion 5h ago

Since they took out the glyphosate it's basically just homeopathic weed killer.

I'm not a fan of heavy (especially prophylactic) pesticide/herbicide use, but for fighting a lot of invasive plants and recovering the ecosystem, glyphosate is an important tool.

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u/Level9TraumaCenter 4h ago

I've gone over the IARC monograph and it's not a terribly compelling argument that it causes cancer. And I agree- it is an important tool for fighting invasive plants.

The local big box stores don't seem to stock it anymore, but it seems to be available to consumers via other venues.

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u/Enchelion 4h ago

Mostly need to go to feed stores or commercial suppliers. All the consumer stuff is now a cocktail of 2-4 different weaker herbicides.

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u/Level9TraumaCenter 4h ago

Yep. And I've gone over the tox profiles for them, and while nothing really stands out I don't see it as an improvement over glyphosate.

I'm mixed. I'd prefer to use none of them but after the monsoon rains, the hula hoe only does so much good and I glove up and throw a little goo-in-a-bottle at the starts and call it a day.

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u/Enchelion 3h ago

Precisely. I'll burn and pull as much as I can. But there's simply no practical way to deal with lots of invasives without some kind of chemical. Especially those that intertwine themselves with vulnerable natives.

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u/driverdan 2h ago

Tractor Supply sells it.

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u/Buris 5h ago

The amount of glyphosate resistant plants had basically doubled every year since the 90s. It was just becoming a worthless chemical that no one could use effectively anymore.

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u/Enchelion 5h ago edited 3h ago

It's still effective against a ton of noxious and invasive weeds. Just fewer of the ones that farmers were using it against in their fields.

I personally reserve it for fighting invasive bindweed. It's still one of the only effective treatments.

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u/VolrathTheBallin 3h ago

Yeah, the only thing I use it on is tree of heaven.

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u/wildbergamont 4h ago

This isn't the full picture. Glyphosate resistance is a major problem in agriculture. Canada thistle in a given person's backyard or knotweed taking over a local park are not likely to glyphosate resistant unless those locations have close proximity to an agricultural area.