Bayer’s announcement on Feb. 14 was something less than a welcome Valentine’s Day surprise for farmers and ag retailers. The statement issued by Bayer on that day said the company was declaring a “force majeure” after a machine producing an important ingredient for glyphosate and Roundup-branded ag herbicides failed at the plant in Luling, La.

Force majeure is a French term meaning that an unforeseen consequence may prevent an entity from fulfilling a contract. The Valentine’s Day announcement raised eyebrows not only in farm country, but also on Wall Street.

However, when Bayer officials were asked the next day by Farm Progress about the possible impact on farmers, company spokespeople issued a prepared statement. Here is Bayer’s statement in its entirety:

“The crop chemistry market worldwide is experiencing historically tight supply due to challenging global trade flows, effects of the global pandemic and other forces which have continued to put pressure on already tight supplies. Throughout these situations, Bayer has been working with our customers to help manage supplies and best meet their needs around the world. Recently a supplier of a raw ingredient needed to produce glyphosate suffered a mechanical failure which may have some short-term impacts on our production of the active ingredient to manufacture glyphosate. Our supplier is on track to restore production; we’ve sourced additional materials and made other mitigation efforts to help best manage this situation. We expect any impact to be marginal in terms of our annual glyphosate production. The Roundup-branded ag herbicide business supply will continue to be balanced through the current ongoing supply management efforts. With the world’s leading crop protection portfolio of products, we will continue to work diligently with our customers to address their needs and help them have a successful season.”

Adding perspective

Even before the Bayer announcement on Feb. 14, sources within the retail industry told Farm Progress that they expected glyphosate supplies to be tight. The same sources expect glufosinate, the active ingredient in Liberty from BASF, to be even tighter. Certain formulations of atrazine may also be in tight supply, although at least for now, premixes including atrazine do not appear to be affected.

“That matches what we’re hearing,” says Bill Johnson, Purdue University Extension weed control specialist. “Whether the latest hiccup with glyphosate has an impact remains to be seen.”

Johnson notes that a large portion of the supply of glyphosate applied each year comes from overseas. It’s too soon to tell if the interruption in the Bayer channel of glyphosate production will have a significant impact.

Even if it doesn’t, the truth is that supplies for postemergence herbicides appear tight for 2022, he says. “Our No. 1 message for farmers today is to build their weed control program for this season around residual herbicides,” Johnson says. “Have a plan that doesn’t rely heavily on post products.”

Second, Johnson suggests paying especially close attention to what weeds you anticipate being in each field. “If we don’t know what weeds to expect, we can’t be selective in planning a program to control them,” he says.

Finally, make your first trip across the field with the sprayer count this year. “We can’t afford to be making a rescue trip due to cost, but we also may not have the materials to make that second trip anyway,” he concludes.