UK Campaigners Push to Ban Glyphosate as Crop Desiccant Before 2026 Deadline

Campaigners want the UK to ban glyphosate as a pre-harvest drying agent over concerns about residues in food and risks to human health.

Farmers say the chemical remains essential, but the Soil Association warns that using it to dry crops leaves traces in bread, breakfast cereals and beer. The government's Health and Safety Executive will launch a consultation soon on allowing its use beyond December 2026, when the current license expires.

The EU banned glyphosate as a pre-harvest desiccant in 2023, and campaigners now press the UK to follow suit. The chemical stays licensed for other purposes on the continent.

On Wednesday, the Soil Association started a campaign to stop its use as a drying agent in the UK ahead of the HSE consultation later this year.

Farmer Guy Singh-Watson, founder of Riverford Organic Farmers, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the effort targets only the pre-harvest spray, not an outright ban. "We should ban the practice of spraying glyphosate onto crops just days before they're harvested, in the full knowledge that traces of that chemical are going to end up in our bread, in our breakfast cereals, in our beer," he said.

He called the practice a relatively modern one and rejected claims that it proves essential to wheat growing.

Monsanto developed Roundup weedkiller, which contains glyphosate, in the 1970s. Its patent lapsed in 2000, and various manufacturers sell it now. Bayer, the German biotech firm that bought Monsanto, has stated no regulatory authority deems glyphosate carcinogenic.

Singh-Watson replied that regulators once approved many crop chemicals now banned. "I don't have a lot of faith in the regulatory regime," he said.

The government holds that glyphosate faces strict regulation and gains approval only when evidence shows safety. Ministers extended its Great Britain approval to December to allow review of new data.

This summer, the HSE will open a two-month public consultation on renewal, considering fresh scientific, technical and regulatory evidence.

Farmer Dave Bell, chair of the Voluntary Initiative for Plant Protection, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he depends on herbicides like glyphosate. "To promote and maintain soil health, and a good healthy rotation in my crops, I need to utilise glyphosate to reduce my wear and tear, reduce my reliance on other weed control, to reduce my carbon footprint," he said. Without it to ripen crops before harvest, he added, "I have to use more diesel to burn, to dry the crop."

The National Farmers Union and other groups back continued use of glyphosate weedkillers, including as a desiccant. NFU deputy president Paul Tompkins called it an essential tool for farmers and growers. He said it helps with cereals to ease harvesting, control weeds, reduce disease and produce sustainable, affordable food.

Regulatory bodies around the world have found glyphosate safe when used responsibly, Tompkins added. He wants the UK process to renew approval for a full 15 years.

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, deemed glyphosate probably carcinogenic to humans.

This March, international scientists reviewed a decade of new research and concluded glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides harm human health and can cause cancer. "The evidence that glyphosate and GBHs harm human health at levels of current use is now so strong that no additional delays in regulation of glyphosate can be justified," their statement said.