Securing our food supply for years to come: why farmers choose glyphosate to sustainably grow crops.

Why use glyphosate in agriculture?

The agricultural use of glyphosate-based herbicides benefits farmers, consumers and the environment. It is key to effective weed control, a secure food supply and environmental sustainability. Let’s take a deeper look into each of these benefits.

Globally, farmers lose 30-40% of their crops to weeds, pests and disease.⁹ Without the use of crop protection practices, these losses could double according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. It’s a devastating loss, especially for farmers, when you consider that those crops are their livelihood.

So, it’s no wonder farmers have come to depend on tools they can rely on, year after year. Applying glyphosate to fields — especially with glyphosate tolerant crops — is a proven way to prevent destructive weeds from taking over their crops.⁹ To date, no other weed control method offers the same level of effectiveness, both practically and economically.

Benefits to Canadians and consumers worldwide: abundant, affordable food

The population is growing, and half of today’s food-growing land is at risk of becoming unusable in less than 40 years due to desertification and land degradation.¹⁰ This is leading to increased food insecurity. Without modern farming innovations, including the use of glyphosate, Canadians could expect to pay 55% more for food.¹¹

Not only that, the foods we love to eat would be increasingly difficult to get. Thanks to plant science, however, farmers will be able to sustainably grow more of our favourite staple foods for years to come.

Glyphosate doesn’t just help control weeds and keep affordable produce at the grocery store, though. It also helps farmers take care of what Cherilyn Jolly-Nagle, a farmer in Mossbank, Saskatchewan calls “their most valuable asset”—their land.

The benefits are clear. But is glyphosate safe?

To put it simply, yes—and like all pesticides, should always be used according to label directions. In Canada, glyphosate use is regulated by both the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which inspects crops for pesticide residue, ensuring farmers are using it correctly, and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), which provides the regulatory guidelines, product submission evaluations and approvals (or rejections)—and has one of the most intensive evaluation processes in the world.¹⁴

And while regulatory agencies ensure farmers use approved herbicides properly, manufacturers and farmers also play an important role in ensuring glyphosate is used safely and appropriately so that no unintended harm is posed to the environment, animals or humans.

Also, thanks to improvements in technology and the use of precision agriculture, farmers are able to leverage data to be even more precise with their application of glyphosate, both where it’s applied and how much is applied.¹⁵

When it comes to pesticide residue, it is rare for glyphosate to be detected on food and, at limits detected, to cause harm. The CFIA ensures farmers use herbicides properly and work within established residue limits.¹⁶ On the infrequent occasion that it is found in low levels (e.g., 1 part per billion), it is well below the limit established by the Government of Canada, and not a health or safety concern¹⁷ as it would not pose any risk to humans or animals.¹⁸