Hannah Fingerhut and David A. Lieb
Des Moines, Iowa (AP) – New efforts from chemical giant Bayer bring dozens of protesters to Iowa Capitol buildings from a lawsuit alleging that a popular killer round-up causes cancer. Protected from lawsuits claiming it had been, he asked lawmakers to refuse.
Pending laws in Iowa and at least seven states protect pesticide companies that claimed they did not warn that the product would cause cancer if the product label was compliant with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
Similar efforts failed during 2024 legislative sessions in Iowa, Missouri and Idaho. However, this year, the coalition of Bayer and agricultural groups has doubled. The broader media campaign highlights the importance of glyphosate-based roundups for American agriculture. And they get help from a group that ran Super Bowl ads in Missouri, claiming that laws are needed to combat China’s influence on US food supplies.
Opponents, including those gathered in Des Moines on Monday, say the bill would limit the rights of people to hold businesses liable if they cause harm to their products. The speaker took turns telling stories of statewide families diagnosed with cancer and Iowas called to lawmakers that it was more important than the interests of businesses.
“We feel that accountability is needed here in Iowa,” said Nick Schutt, a part-time farmer whose mother, father, aunt and two siblings have all been diagnosed with cancer. “At the end of the day, multinational chemical companies like Bayer should be held responsible.”
Bayer has challenged the allegations that Roundup causes cancer, but the company has been hit with roughly 177,000 lawsuits containing herbicides, securing $16 billion to resolve the case. They claim that these legal costs are “not sustainable” and are looking for relief from lawmakers who are concerned about the possibility of roundup being drawn from the US market.
For crops such as corn, soybeans, and cotton, Roundup is designed to work with genetically modified seeds that resist the fatal effects of herbicides. This allows farmers to produce more crops by cultivating less soil.
“This is the most important product in global agriculture,” said Liza Lockwood, Bayer’s medical department lead, at a recent Missouri Senate Committee hearing.
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Some farmers reflect that claim. If the lawsuit forces a round-up from the US market, they argue that Chinese-made products may be the only alternative.
“Loss of access to this safe and effective tool creates domino effects that threaten family farmers and our state’s economy,” says Kevin Ross, a farmer in southwestern Iowa. He told lawmakers. For 50 years, Ross detailed how American-made products improve soil quality, reduce water runoff, and struggling farmers make profits.
Extended fields for law
Last year, Bayer focused on lobbying in Missouri, Iowa and Idaho. Each was concentrated in the North American Crop Science Division, the Roundup Manufacturing Facility, and the phosphate mines where their main components are derived. The bill passed at least one room in Iowa and Missouri, but ultimately failed in all three states.
This year, laws providing legal protection against the failure of the war have already passed North Dakota homes without opposition. Similar bills have cleared initial committees for Iowa, Mississippi and Missouri, and are pending before legislative committees in Florida, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The bill failed to get out of the Wyoming Commission by the deadline.
Bayer officials said Monday that legislative efforts are also working in Georgia, Idaho and the US Congress. Promotional campaigns from the Hyundai AG Alliance, a Bayer-supported coalition, target a wider range of nations.
New to this year’s cause is an organization concerned about China’s impact on the US economy, a protection US tied to President Donald Trump’s special mission envoy and former Director of National Intelligence, Richard Grenell. It’s an initiative. The group ran a TV ad on Sunday in central Missouri during the Super Bowl. He said he invested six figures to make the 30-second spots more wider in Missouri and Iowa.
He also parked a truck with a portable sign outside the Iowa State Capitol on Monday to encourage support for a bill that would stop Chinese-made chemicals from “infiltrating American farms.”
Concerns about cancer and pesticides
Advertising supporting laws that may limit Bayer’s liability highlights the importance of its weed control products to agriculture.
“Agriculture is tough,” says the Facebook ad. “But glyphosate is a little easier.”
The ad angered Kim Hageman, a resident of Des Moines, a suburban Des Moines.
“Bayer is right, farming is difficult, but cancer is even more difficult,” said Hageman, one of the groups that organized Monday’s protest.
Some studies have associated glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, with cancer, but the EPA says it is not carcinogenic in humans when used according to instructions. However, many lawsuits against Bayer allege that glyphosate is causing a cancer called non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
One of the many attorneys involved in the lawsuit against Bayer is Trump’s candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary to the Department of Health and Human Services. The health agency oversees the Food and Drug Administration but does not control the EPA and its labeling requirements.
The law supported by Bayer provides protection against postwar claims, not just Roundup, but also other pesticide products that follow the EPA labeling guidelines.
Des Moines cancer doctor Richard Deming said it often takes decades to determine the link between the cause and effect between cancer and long-term exposure to low levels of chemicals. He said public policy should focus on reducing that risk rather than providing a “disclaimer from liability.”
“I don’t think AG chemicals cause as much cancer as smoking cigarettes,” Deming told the Associated Press after speaking to lawmakers. However, studies suggest that there is a clear link between Iowa AG chemical exposure and cancer incidence rates.
Reeve was reported from Jefferson City, Missouri.
Original issue: February 10th, 2025, 7:44pm EST
