Farmers, especially in the South, have been desperate for new weapons against superweeds that can’t be killed with more widely used herbicides. In the 20 years since Monsanto introduced a line of genetically engineered, “Roundup Ready” crops, including soybeans, farmers have sprayed so much of the weedkiller Roundup that weeds have evolved to survive it. Roundup-resistant Palmer amaranth, or pigweed, can grow three inches a day, reach seven feet or more, and damage harvesting equipment. But for now, at least, most pigweed can’t survive a dousing of dicamba.
The use of dicamba isn’t new, but it has not typically been applied on fields with mature crops. Conventional soybeans are sensitive to the herbicide, which can be carried along by the wind. Last year, when Monsanto introduced dicamba-resistant soybeans for the first time, some 200 dicamba spraying complaints were lodged in Missouri, with tempers flaring on both sides of the issue. A dicamba dispute between two farmers in Arkansas led to the shooting death of one and the arrest of the other on murder charges.
http://www.motherjones.com/food/2017/06/farmers-say-this-weedkiller-is-also-killing-their-soybean-plants/
Naturally, Monsanto has a GMO Soybean plant that's resistant to their new herbicide.
You gotta admire the sheer audacity of it. Monsanto is a perfect example of the reckless depravity of American corporations, profit-seeking at the expense of all moral and ethical limits.
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