Today, ahead of oral arguments in Monsanto v. Durnell, members of the Modern Ag Alliance and several farmers said a potential Supreme Court decision could have wide-ranging effects on U.S. agriculture, particularly access to widely used crop protection tools like glyphosate.
The case centers on whether federal pesticide law overrides state-level “failure to warn” lawsuits tied to Roundup. A Missouri jury previously awarded damages to a plaintiff who claimed glyphosate exposure caused cancer, and now the high court will decide whether those types of claims can move forward nationwide.
Opening the call, Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, executive director of the Modern Ag Alliance, described the organization as “a coalition of over 110 now partner organizations,” including “commodity groups, ag interest groups, Farm Bureaus… really from coast to coast.” She said the group’s mission is “ensuring that farmers continue to have access to those critical tools that they depend upon,” including “the critical chemistry, crop protection technologies that they use each and every day.”
She added that much of the public discussion has lacked direct input from producers. “What we have found that is missing in a lot of this conversation is the voice of the farmers,” she said, referring to those “that are utilizing, that depend on these tools.”