A company that is helping growers buy cheap glyphosate through a seldom-used importation program says it is facing considerable resistance from the establishment.
“They’re trying everything they can to limit the effectiveness of this program,” said Jim Mann, president of Farmers of North America.
He points to a March 10 letter that Monsanto Canada sent to members of its dealer network as evidence of what “borders on” but does not cross the line of anti-competitive behaviour.
The letter provides herbicide retailers with background information on the Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s own-use import program, which the FNA is encouraging its members to use to bring in an American glyphosate product expected to cost about $4.50 per litre.
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“Monsanto Canada intends to speak to PMRA about several concerns we have regarding their assessment of ClearOut 41 Plus (herbicide) and the FNA submission,” states the letter.
It goes on to say the company is working with CropLife Canada, a trade association that represents the biotech industry, to ensure the own-use import, or OUI program, is administered to the letter.
Monsanto Canada spokesperson Trish Jordan said the company is within its rights to demand the PMRA uphold its rules and regulations.
She said the FNA has been promoting, advertising and marketing a product that has not yet been issued an acceptance certificate, which is a violation of those guidelines.
“Is that really the way the OUI program is supposed to work?” inquired Jordan.
On Feb. 14 the PMRA ruled that ClearOut 41 Plus is chemically equivalent to glyphosate products already sold in Canada.
All that remains to be done before farmers can apply to bring the product across the border is for the PMRA to approve a bilingual label.
In the letter it sent to its dealers, Monsanto estimated that wouldn’t happen in time for spring, an assertion that further infuriated the FNA.
“The first step that happens when companies don’t want to compete is they cast doubt,” said Mann, whose company lost a competition bureau complaint a few years ago that alleged glyphosate manufacturers were guilty of collusion.
Mann has already received a verbal commitment from the PMRA that the label has been approved and said the looming threat is making Monsanto antsy.
The biotech company recently hired Marketing Horizons Inc. to conduct a survey of growers to determine their 2005 glyphosate plans, which FNA claims is an attempt to determine the impact of its own-use import program and to “reassess what price the market will bear.”
Jordan said Monsanto has conducted a glyphosate intentions survey for the past five years and has no intention of adjusting the price on its Roundup herbicides.
“That’s not how we react to things. That might be their hope that there is going to be a pricing reaction in the market but I would say it’s way too early to suggest that.”
Monsanto’s line of Roundup products currently account for 56 percent of the 32 million litres in annual glyphosate sales in Canada.
Jordan expects farmers will import between 100,000 and 500,000 litres of ClearOut 41 Plus once the product is fully approved, which is a relative drop in the bucket.
The average retail price for glyphosate is $7.50 per litre, with current numbers ranging from $5.90 – $8.50 per litre.
Roundup WeatherMAX, Monsanto’s latest offering, retails for $8.40 per litre. Research conducted by University of Guelph professor Christopher Hall shows it outperforms other glyphosates in tough conditions.
“You’re certainly not going to see a lower-end product like ClearOut 41 Plus trying to compete with Roundup WeatherMAX, which is the superior product,” said Jordan.
Mann said other published studies have shown there is little difference in glyphosate products.
He also pointed out that ClearOut 41 was not included in the Guelph research and that producers can resolve one of the two tough conditions outlined in that study by simply using water modifiers to eliminate hard water problems.
Mann declined to divulge his 2005 sales expectations for ClearOut, saying it was a confidential matter.
