Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — A bill that’s cleared an Iowa Senate subcommittee would give liability protection to farm chemical companies, based on how products are labeled.
It means the companies couldn’t be sued for failing to warn of potential health risks if product labels meet federal guidelines. Bayer, the company that sells Roundup, has been the subject of thousands of lawsuits by farmers and landscapers diagnosed with cancer. Kevin Ross, a farmer from Underwood who’s a former president of the National Corn Growers Association, testified at a statehouse hearing Wednesday.
Joel Nelson of Carroll — the chair-elect of the Agribusiness Association of Iowa — says Roundup and similar products have been thoroughly tested.
Andrew Mertens, executive director of the Iowa Association for Justice, says fewer than half a percent of all cancer patients or their survivors suing over ag chemical exposure are from Iowa.
Iowa Farmers Union president Aaron Lehman says s farmers should get their day in court if a serious illness is linked to a herbicide like Roundup.
Similar legislation was introduced in Idaho and Missouri last year, but never adopted.
