PIVOT

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the popular herbicide Roundup, is a chemical that was first used to clean out mineral deposits in pipes and boilers. But in the 1970s, a chemist at Monsanto—one of the largest American-owned producers of chemical, agricultural, and biochemical products until it was acquired by the German pharmaceutical company Bayer in 2018 –discovered its herbicidal power. By 1974, Monsanto had patented glyphosate and introduced Roundup to the market. The herbicide became popular among producers for its ability to manage noxious weeds on a large agricultural scale, saving time and money. Farmers like George, the patriarch in Pivot, would have been drawn to Roundup for its efficiency. Before Monsanto commercialized Roundup, farmers would manage weeds by tilling up the ground, making multiple passes across a field with large machinery and exposing the topsoil — which could lead to soil erosion and compaction. Or, a producer would use a variety of selective herbicides, which each targets a specific weed, resulting in multiple trips across a field and greater use of resources like fuel, labor, and time. In other situations, producers would have to physically walk a field and hand remove weeds.  Between 1974 and 2015, glyphosate became the most widely used herbicide in the world – and Monsanto held the exclusive rights to the use of glyphosate in products in the U.S. until their patent expired in September 2000.