No Glyphosate, No Gain

A new report from The Directions Group highlighted glyphosate’s role in farm bill programs and the implications if farmers lost access to the herbicide. Spoiler alert: the outlook isn’t pretty.

Hot topic: Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the U.S. Glyphosate has been the target of state-level mass scrutiny, which could impact herbicide availability despite established conclusions from the Environmental Protection Agency. 

By the numbers: Limited access to glyphosate (or a cost-effective replacement) could lead to a heavier financial burden for farm bill programs, including commodities, conservation, nutrition, and crop insurance. Those numbers could include: 

• $2.89B loss in net farm income
• $7.1B increase in SNAP food assistance for the life of the next farm bill
• $2.946B increase in crop insurance for the next farm bill

The report argued that carbon emissions would rise by 33.72M tons annually, thanks to farmers reducing no-till and other soil conservation practices that glyphosate use has allowed.

Soundbite: “The increase in production costs would ripple through the economy, creating substantial challenges for both farmers and policymakers. It could undermine the farm bill and put pressure on policymakers to slash budgets for key programs in response to rising costs.” — Dave Juday, Executive Advisor to The Directions Group

The study concluded that herbicide labeling uncertainties could lead to billions in increased production costs that would be felt from farm to table.