Environment & Energy
Related: About this forum5 Reasons Monsanto Is Crashing and Burning (well, we can certainly hope so)
But for now, I'll restrain myself and withhold any enthusiastic shouts of joy.
NB: Permission has been granted to reproduce the following article in its entirety.
5 Reasons Monsanto Is Crashing and Burning
By Eric Blair
Its hard to believe that the once almighty Monsanto is on its knees. But their dirty deeds seem to have finally caught up with them.
Monsanto shares have already dropped 27 percent this year and they just posted fourth quarter losses wider than estimates.
They also announced cost-saving measures to counter their plunge; deep cuts to their workforce and exiting the sugarcane business.
Bloomberg reports:
Monsanto Co. said it will eliminate 2,600 jobs as part of a cost-savings plan, joining a growing list of major corporations struggling to contain the damage from the decline in world commodities prices.
The St. Louis-based agricultural giant announced the reductions the equivalent of 12 percent of its workforce as it reported a loss of 19 cents a share in the fiscal fourth quarter and warned profit would remain weak through 2016.
Monsanto enjoys a near monopoly on corn and soybean in North America. They appear to have it all; they own the farmers, the industry, the politicians, and the regulators. And, yet, theyre crashing and burning.
Bloomberg cites slumping commodity prices for Monsantos decline. Like DuPont Co. and Glencore Plc, Monsanto, the worlds largest seed maker, is taking steps to combat the effects of a commodity slump
However, here are 5 real reasons Monsanto is tanking:
1. Consumer activism: The market doesnt want herbicide-soaked genetically modified food anymore. As people are becoming more health conscious, they prefer to eat organic food. Its really that simple.
2. Lawsuits with farmers: Monsanto spends untold resources suing family farms for copyright infringement. Farmers are forbidden from saving patented seeds year to year. Additionally when Monsantos GMO crops pollute neighboring farms, Monsanto sues those farms too. Not a great business model when your primary customers are farmers. An organic farmer in Australia is hoping to reverse this revolting practice.
3. Funding anti-labeling campaigns in multiple states is draining Monsanto of millions of dollars. This seems to be the majority of their marketing budget. They spent at least $8M in 2012, over $9M in 2013 in Washington State alone, and combined for $8M to defeat just a county initiative in Maui County Hawaii this past year.
4. Flagship product causes cancer: A recent World Health Organization report concluded that the active chemical used in Monsantos flagship product Glyphosate is probably carcinogenic to humans. This unsettling realization hasnt even begun to sink in yet. Although some cancer-stricken farm workers are suing the big M over their illness with many more likely to do the same.
5. National bans: An increasing number of countries are banning either GMOs or certain pesticides, or both. At least 15 European Union members move to ban GMO crops. Meanwhile some small nations like Bermuda and Colombia have banned glyphosate.
To summarize, when people no longer want a product, market share and regulatory control mean nothing. This a long-term problem for Monsanto that cant be fixed with cost-savings measures. That is why theyre doomed.
Eric Blair writes for Activist Post under Creative Commons. You have full permission to share or repost this article in its entirety. ''
http://www.activistpost.com/2015/10/5-reasons-monsanto-is-crashing-and-burning.html
djean111
(14,255 posts)Wait and see.
bananas
(27,509 posts)1) k&fr = kick & fscking recommend.
2) k&fr = kick & fraking recommend.
1) fsck = file system check and/or intentional typo as temporary work-around stupid censorbots.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fsck
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frak_%28expletive%29
Frak or frack is a fictional version of "fuck" first used in the 1978-Battlestar Galactica television series. It continues to be used throughout different versions of the Battlestar Galactica franchise as a profanity in science fiction.
tecelote
(5,122 posts)Monsanto Knew of Glyphosate/Roundup Cancer Link 35 Years Ago
http://www.globalresearch.ca/monsanto-knew-of-glyphosate-roundup-cancer-link-35-years-ago/5449462
The Case of Glyphosate: Product Promoters Masquerading as Regulators
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/08/24/the-case-of-glyphosate-product-promoters-masquerading-as-regulators/
Pesticides Linked To Increased Childhood Cancer Risk
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pesticides-linked-to-increased-childhood-cancer-risk_55f6deb5e4b077ca094f9274
More Evidence of Roundup's Link to Kidney, Liver Damage
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32585-more-evidence-of-roundup-s-link-to-kidney-liver-damage
Want to know what happens in your body when you switch from conventional food to organic?
---
But in the US, we know our priorities. profits over people.
progressoid
(49,992 posts)They only measured a few specific synthetic pesticides. Here's the big secret - Organic foods contain pesticides too! Most are natural, but many are added by the farmers (Yes, organic farmers use pesticides too).
We have estimated that on average Americans ingest roughly 5,000 to 10,000 different natural pesticides and their breakdown products. Americans eat about 1,500 mg of natural pesticides per person per day, which is about 10,000 times more than the 0.09 mg they consume of synthetic pesticide residues.
http://potency.berkeley.edu/pdfs/Paracelsus.pdf
cprise
(8,445 posts)Its similar to the oil industry pushing the view that "climate change happens all the time... big deal".
Naturally produced substances can also be hazardous, but the essential difference is that we have long experience with most of them in human history. And, yes, the fact that 'natural chemicals' are the product of some ecosystem does count for something; They are very likely to be biodegradable for one.
As for suggesting equivalence between coffee and (different) synthetic pesticides based on weight, well... I had to laugh.
Here is some reading that supports organic health claims:
Organic farming 'benefits biodiversity'
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32781136
Organic Food, Reduction In Male Birth Defects
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/advpub/2015/7/ehp.1409518.acco.pdf
Organic food reduces pesticide exposure
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150205174835.htm
Response to JohnyCanuck (Original post)
Pacifist Patriot This message was self-deleted by its author.
roody
(10,849 posts)Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)They won't be Monsanto as we know them much longer.
progressoid
(49,992 posts)But the agricultural-data field is crowded, Monsantos initial moves into the sector have had spotty results and the shifting narrative is a sharp departure from the vision Monsanto described just weeks ago, as it bid for Syngenta. That vision was of a future based on agricultural chemicals and high-tech seeds.
http://reut.rs/1L7stOB
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)gregcrawford
(2,382 posts)... reportedly said that it is his goal that all the food grown will be owned by Monsanto. Nice guy.
It would not surprise me if Monsanto, in collusion with Bayer, was actually trying to drive honeybees and other natural pollinators to extinction in order to strengthen the company's stranglehold on food production from seed to supper.
Monsanto is one of the most evil corporate entities ever to foul the planet, both literally and figuratively. That company's total annihilation would make the air fresher, and the Sun shine brighter... both literally and figuratively.
Gamecock Lefty
(700 posts)Folks, Monsanto is not crashing and burning because of labeling, GMOs, polluting rivers or other such nonsense. They are not crashing and burning at all.
The bottom line is Monsanto makes more dollars predominantly from their corn products and Chicago corn commodity prices have been down the last couple of years due to a glutton of product on the market. A lot of growers have switched to soybeans to make more cash per acre while corn prices are down. Monsanto makes more dollars from corn than beans, so their bottom line has suffered recently and we know how shareholders want to make their money (who doesnt, right?). Hence a tightening of the belt and potential layoffs to improve the bottom line.
I know some of you may not like Monsanto, but a lot of good people work there (I live in STL now) including some I personally know that are Bernie and Hillary supporters.
And regarding that comment that Hugh Grant wants to own the world's food supply - something like that. Total 100% BS! And that Monsanto, in conjunction with Bayer, actually wants to destroy the honeybee population? More crap.
Science over fear.
dae
(3,396 posts)all the other stuff written about the GM products is on point. Monsanto GM seeds is not just about science, GM is also about controlling seed markets and farms.
PatSeg
(47,547 posts)with stronger and stronger herbicides while weeds become resistant to their poisons. This company serves no useful purpose whatsoever on this planet.
smilingwen
(52 posts)The bees are dying at an alarming rate. My ex was a beekeeper with hundreds of hives and had to shut it down because he had such a hard time keeping them alive. Very scary for our food supply.
yellowcanine
(35,699 posts)Dan Charles takes issue with some of what is said about GMOs and Monsanto. No one can claim that NPR or Dan Charles is a shill for Monsanto.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top-five-myths-of-genetically-modified-seeds-busted
PatSeg
(47,547 posts)"Monsanto and Others Caught Paying Internet Trolls to Attack Activists"
<Surprisingly, it was actually a Monsanto employee that unintentionally let the truth behind their discrediting operation slip in a conference with students that he may have forgotten was open to the public. In a conversation with students, Dr. William Bill Moar raved that Monsanto had established:
An entire department (waving his arm for emphasis) dedicated to debunking science which disagreed with theirs.
snip
Its so much easier to say someone is a quack, or create some fictitious and anonymous accusation to plague their search data than it is to actually have a scientific debate on issues like Roundups admitted probable carcinogenic nature.>
http://naturalsociety.com/monsanto-and-others-caught-paying-internet-trolls-to-attack-activists/
PatSeg
(47,547 posts)progressoid
(49,992 posts)Anti-vaccine liar.
Frequent guest on Alex Jones' show.
Thinks flouride causes heart disease.
On the plus side, Natural News was awarded #1 Worst Anti-Science Website!
MisterP
(23,730 posts)PatSeg
(47,547 posts)Nihil
(13,508 posts)It's always a bonus to see people incorporating the words "progress" or "left" into
their usernames when they parrot the corporate talking points ...
I find that hilarious. Its like they think liberals are a different species with their own unique language. They'd make terrible spies.
NickB79
(19,257 posts)Despite the small inroads small-scale and organic agriculture have made in the global food supply over the past decade, megafarm/corporate agriculture is still a virtual monolith at this time.
People think that the sole reason we're fucked with regard to our food supply is Monsanto. They are wrong. We're fucked because we've decided that running massive farms with monocrops, and raising livestock in feedlots fed said monocrops, are the way to go to feed ourselves. As long as there is a demand for this kind of farming, there will be a demand for the seeds and chemicals the big ag companies (not just Monsanto) produce.
Deeper than this, we're fucked because there are just too damn many of us on this planet.
PatSeg
(47,547 posts)that I could say you're wrong.
PatSeg
(47,547 posts)is we are in the process of self-annihilation.