Campaigners call for ban on use of weedkiller glyphosate at harvest time

Campaigners are calling for a ban on the use of the weedkiller glyphosate to dry crops at harvest time because of concerns about its impact on human health.

Some farmers argue the chemical is necessary but the Soil Association warns that its use as a drying agent leaves residues in foods such as bread, breakfast cereals and beer.

Some scientific studies have suggested possible links between glyphosate use and cancer and other illnesses.

The government's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will soon launch a consultation on whether to allow its use on crops beyond December 2026, when the licence to use the chemical is set to expire.

Use of glyphosate as a pre-harvest drying agent was banned in the EU in 2023, and campaigners are now calling on the UK government to do the same. The chemical is still licensed for other uses on the continent.

On Wednesday, the Soil Association launched a campaign to end its use as a pre-harvest desiccant [drying agent] in the UK, ahead of the HSE's consultation later this year.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, farmer and founder of Riverford Organic Farmers Guy Singh-Watson said the campaign was not seeking an outright ban on the product in the UK.

Instead, he said the UK should ban the practice of spraying glyphosate "onto crops just days before they're harvested, in the full knowledge that traces of that chemical are going to end up in our bread, in our breakfast cereals, in our beer."

He said the use of glyphosate to dry crops was a "relatively modern practice", adding: "To say that it's essential to the growing of wheat, I'm afraid, is... not true."

Roundup weedkiller, which contains glyphosate, was originally developed by Monsanto in the 1970s. Its patent expired in 2000 and the chemical is now sold by various manufacturers.

Bayer, the German bio-tech company that now owns Monsanto, has previously said there is no regulatory authority that has found that glyphosate is carcinogenic.

In response, Singh-Watson said many chemicals that had previously been cleared for use on crops by regulators were now banned. "I don't have a lot of faith in the regulatory regime", he said.

The government says the product is strictly regulated and only authorised for use if the evidence shows it is safe.

Glyphosate remains approved for use in Great Britain until December, after ministers extended its authorisation to give regulators time to review new data.

This summer, the HSE will launch a two-month public consultation on whether approval for the use of glyphosates should be renewed, taking account of any new "scientific, technical and regulatory" evidence.

Farmer Dave Bell, chair of the Voluntary Initiative for the use of Plant Protection, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he relies on herbicides like glyphosate.

"To promote and maintain soil health, and a good healthy rotation in my crops, I need to utilise glyphosate to reduce my wear and tear, reduce my reliance on other weed control, to reduce my carbon footprint," he said.