Dive Brief:
- The United States Department of Agriculture granted approval of soybean and cotton seeds created by Monsanto meant to handle herbicide.
- Environmental organizations and consumers have advocated against both Monsanto and Dow Chemical Co.'s plans regarding seeds and herbicide, respectively, suggesting more aggressive weed killers could do more harm than good. The companies counter that the latest types are actually more safe than previous versions.
- Monsanto does not yet have approval from the Environmental Protection Agency regarding the herbicide meant to work in conjunction with the seeds.
Dive Insight:
GMOs remain a contentious issue in the industry, flooding it with lawsuit after lawsuit from both sides. That being said, Syngenta recently pulled back from its lawsuit against Bunge as China decided to accept that GMO corn strand. While this issue won't likely be met with agreement anytime soon - and is happening across the world - it appears neither side really wants to give up without a fight.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monsanto anticipated the soybean seeds be available for sale come 2016. Monsanto's recent earnings report was higher than analysts forecast because of an uptick in soybean sales.
Meanwhile, in other recent soybean news, the discovery of a new gene could prove a big deal to the industry.