Bayer says it will remove glyphosate (Roundup), a lawsuit target, from the lawn and garden market in 2023

If you use Roundup to kill weeds, you won't be able to buy it legally in the U.S. in 2023, unless you're a farmer or a retailer. Bayer AG announced Thursday that it would removing glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, from the U.S. residential lawn and garden market, as early as January 2023, "as early as the decision could be implemented," reports Rhonda Brooks of AgWeb.

Roundup for lawns and gardens will be replaced with well-known active ingredients in a new "formulation or formulations." Professional users, including farmers and retailers who can license applicators, "will continue to have access to glyphosate from Bayer for weed control," Brooks reports.

“The agricultural segment is a completely different segment with very different volumes, of course, different labels and different dosages that are used,” said Liam Condon, president of Bayer Crop Science. “We think from an overall labeling point of view, it is a very well-protected market.”

Brooks reports, "More than 90 percent of the Roundup litigation claims Bayer has faced in recent years have come from the U.S. residential lawn and garden market business segment and is what led to the company deciding to abandon it," said Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer AG: “Let me be very clear that (this decision) is exclusively geared at managing litigation risk and not because of any safety concerns.” Brooks notes, "The company currently has about 30,000 unresolved cancer claims."