"In the Weeds" Glyphosate News Roundup: September 8, 2026

Glyphosate's Fight for Survival Takeaways Commercially-grown oats in the U.S. are not Roundup Ready, are not genetically engineered and thus non on-GMO. Moms Across America used an ELISA test, which unfortunately was validated mostly for water. Bayer points to the Durnell court win as validating its position that Roundup's federally approved label complied with the law, even as it proceeds with the settlement. 'Glyphosate-free oats' claim is fear marketing, as it isn't even sprayed on the small grain By Michelle Miller, the Farm Babe Published August 27, 2026 on Science Literacy Project Open up any social media post that brags about 'Glyphosate-free' oats, and you'll find plenty of die-hards who do whatever they can to anything associated with glyphosate use. The problem in this instance? I was an oat grower for many years and never met anyone who sprayed glyphosate on oats. For a long time, it was actually not even registered to be used in oats; it would be off label in the United States. I believe that the 'glyphosate free' label is just another fear-based marketing narrative to sell you more expensive food products, especially for oats. 'It's crazy to me to think that people would think that we spray glyphosate on oats' here in the U.S., Tennessee oat grower Kary Robinson said to me. In Tennessee especially, there are not many oat growers, but the growing season is longer than in most oat-centric production regions. Oats are mostly grown across in northern U.S., with North Dakota and South Dakota being the most prominent states. The process of harvesting oats is similar to hay. To my knowledge, there is no Oat Growers Association here in the United States. I have no idea why anyone would ever spray glyphosate on oats. It would kill your crop. Any concerns about glyphosate being sprayed on oats usually originates with Canadian agriculture practices, where some instances of pre-harvest spraying occur (glyphosate-based products are not approved as desiccants, no matter what social-media claims you may hear). Let's not forget a lot of this glyphosate hyperbole is politically driven… Pre-harvest glyphosate can only be applied once grain moisture is below 30 percent in the least mature part of the field, including areas of regrowth that may still produce seed. 'Any levels of glyphosate [in oats] that may remain after processing are trace amounts and significantly below the 30 parts per million (ppm) limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and international bodies as safe for human consumption,' the Prairie Oat Growers Association explains. The EPA and scores of other global regulatory bodies repeatedly have affirmed that glyphosate poses no risk to human health when used as directed. But, of course, that doesn't prevent swindlers on social media and matador corporations from capitalizing on the public's worry. Food marketing labels just never seem to end. Commercially grown oats in the U.S. are not Roundup Ready and, because they are not genetically engineered, they are non-GMO. Social media influencer clickbait and headlines that tell you oats are 'drenched' in glyphosate have likely never farmed an acre of them, and don't have a foundational understanding of how modern food production works. According to Dr. Kevin Folta, a plant science professor at the University of Florida, sometimes the testing methodology for glyphosate residues is flawed and can detect false positives. Folta has read through thousands of studies on the safety of glyphosate and talks about them on his podcast, Talking Biotech, often. The podcast explains the false positives and how they are leveraged by activist groups for fearmongering and activism. 'Moms Across America did the testing, and they used what's called an ELISA test, which is, in general, a good way to analyze certain things,' Folta explained. 'But the particular kit or analysis that they used was validated mostly for water. It's prone to a lot of noise. Salts, lipids, carbohydrates, soaps can be detected as false positives when the testing methods are used inaccurately.' The majority of experts in plant and other agricultural scientists will say that glyphosate is one of the safest herbicides that farmers have ever had access to — which has translated to the residential market as well and makes it popular at retailers such as Home Depot and Walmart. In general, it's pretty much impossible for glyphosate to end up in your food at levels that would be dangerous to human health. That's especially true in the U.S. I was an oat farmer for many years, and our family were oat buyers for Quaker, and, like Robinson talked about earlier, we have never heard of anyone here using this practice. Even when done outside the U.S., oats (and other crops) are protected by husks, pods, shells, etc. If in the rare instance that glyphosate residues are detected, it's extremely minimal (parts per billion) — which, to put in perspective, is equivalent to one second in 32 years. According to the Alliance for Food and Farming, which runs the Safe Fruits and Veggies website, you'd need to eat thousands of servings in a single sitting of products with those kinds of trace amounts of glyphosate in order to negatively impact you. When we sprayed it on our corn and soybean farm, it was one or two days a year — and that was at a rate of 22 ounces per acre, which is like less than two soda cans on an area of land the size of a football field and was long before the edible part of the plant is present. Corn, soybeans, sugar beets, cotton, alfalfa, and canola would be sprayed with glyphosate, as they are considered Roundup Ready and tolerant to the herbicide. Let's not forget a lot of this hyperbole is politically driven. Politicians want to give themselves a health halo by sharing false narratives like this to get elected despite the fact this was never an issue to begin with. Oats are very good for you, and I encourage people to eat them without fear. If you understand food and farming practices, you should feel extremely comfortable asking questions from real oat farmers, and feel comfortable consuming oats! Michelle Miller, the Farm Babe, is a former row crop and livestock farmer, keynote speaker, writer, and online influencer who advocates for agriculture while traveling the world. She is passionate about bridging the gap between farmers and consumers, by giving science a bigger voice. Find more about Michelle on her website. Read the original article on Science Literacy Project » Roundup Settlement Hearing Pushed to September 14 Published August 13, 2026 on The Harm Report On August 6, 2026, a Missouri circuit court judge granted a joint motion from Monsanto and class counsel to push back the final approval hearing for Bayer's $7.25 billion Roundup class settlement. The hearing, originally set for August 19, is now scheduled for September 14, 2026. The motion cited a surge in opt-out revocation requests — class members changing their minds about leaving the settlement — following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 25, 2026 ruling in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell. That 7-2 decision held that federal pesticide law preempts state failure-to-warn claims against Roundup, which narrowed the legal path for anyone pursuing an individual lawsuit instead of the settlement. The settlement administrator asked for more time to process the incoming requests before the court rules on final approval. In plain terms, 'final approval hearing' is where a judge decides whether a class settlement is fair enough to become official and binding. 'Opting out' means telling the court you don't want the settlement — you're choosing to keep your right to sue Bayer individually instead. An 'opt-out revocation' just reverses that choice: you opt back into the settlement before the deadline. None of this changes the settlement amount or who's eligible — it only delays when the deal becomes final. For folks who are part of the Roundup class settlement, the final date to decide whether to stay in, opt out, or reverse an opt-out was August 21. Why the Moved Deadline Matters The $7.25 billion settlement, first announced in February 2026, covers roughly 65,000 pending Roundup cases — people who used the glyphosate-based weedkiller and later developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Individual payments under the framework are expected to range from about $10,000 to $165,000, paid out over as long as 21 years. The Durnell ruling changed the calculation for anyone weighing whether to stay in the settlement or opt out and sue on their own. Before Durnell, opting out preserved a failure-to-warn claim — the theory behind the three early plaintiff verdicts against Monsanto. After Durnell, that theory is foreclosed for claims going forward; design-defect and negligence theories remain open, but they're a harder case to build without the label-based argument. That's why the court is now seeing people ask to revoke opt-outs they already filed. The practical effect for anyone in the class: the window to make that decision — stay in, opt out, or reverse an earlier opt-out — closed on August 21, 2026, three weeks before the settlement itself gets a final ruling. Bayer and Monsanto's position Bayer has framed the delay as routine claims administration, not a sign of trouble with the deal. The company's public statements describe the rescheduling as giving the settlement administrator adequate time to process paperwork accurately before the court rules — the kind of procedural adjustment mass-tort settlements of this size regularly need. Bayer has continued to point to the Durnell win as validating its position that Roundup's federally approved label complied with the law, even as it proceeds with the settlement to resolve the remaining claims without further trials. Does this affect claims? For folks who are part of the Roundup class settlement and have been deciding whether to stay in, opt out, or reverse an opt-out you already filed, August 21, 2026 was the date that decision is due — not September 14. The full Roundup lawsuit overview covers who qualifies for the settlement, how the Durnell ruling affects claims outside it, and what the payment tiers look like. You used Roundup regularly over a sustained period — as a farmer, landscaper, groundskeeper, nursery worker, or homeowner You were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including follicular lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, or chronic lymphocytic leukemia Your exposure occurred before February 17, 2026, if you're evaluating eligibility for the class settlement specifically You likely qualify for compensation. For help understanding a class notice you've received, see how to read a class-action notice. Where things stand now The opt-out and revocation window closed August 21. The final approval hearing is now September 14. Until the judge rules, no payments go out — the settlement isn't final. Watch for whether the court approves the deal as written or requires further changes at the September hearing. Read the original article on The Harm Report » Read more from the "In the Weeds" Series »