Monsanto Seeds Unleash Unintended Impacts on U.S. Farms

There’s just something about the herbicide dicamba that’s always made it hell on soybean and cotton crops.

So for decades, the industry marketed it for use on grassy species, wheat and sod and the like, and other farmers mostly had to steer clear. Then, in 2005, Monsanto Co. hatched a two-point plan: First it would engineer soybeans and cotton to make them dicamba-resistant; next it would create a special variant of the pesticide less likely to waft off to where it isn’t welcome.

Part one of the plan is done. The seeds are on the market. The second part is not--and ...