Bayer Announces Roundup, Dicamba Settlements Totaling Almost $11b

Bayer announced Wednesday that the company has reached a series of agreements to substantially resolve litigation surrounding two of their most popular herbicides they had inherited with the acquisition of Saint Louis-based Monsanto.

Bayer will make a total payment of 10-point-one billion dollars to resolve current and address potential future Roundup litigation, and also resolve dicamba drift litigation for payment of up to $400 million.

Chris Turner, U.S. Country Division Head for Bayer, explains what this means for growers.

Turner says this does not impact Bayer’s commitment to these and other technologies.

Lawyers representing plaintiffs in the case also called the settlement beneficial for farmers. Attorney Don Downing told the St Louis Post-Dispatch that he believed the farm community would be very happy with the settlement. Downing added that while the settlements are not an acknowledgment of product flaws, he suggested that Bayer’s actions would speak for themselves.

It’s been a busy June in the courtroom for Bayer, first learning on the third that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had vacated the registration for its dicamba herbicide, XtendiMax. Earlier this week a California district court judge ruled in favor of Bayer’s Roundup, saying that the product was not subject to California’s Proposition 65 law which requires warning labels on products believed to cause cancer.