Bayer Faces More Monsanto Pain With Trial Loss on Dicamba (2)

The first U.S. trial over a herbicide called dicamba has landed Bayer AG with another potentially multi-billion-dollar headache as the German company works to settle cancer claims over its weedkiller Roundup. The case also entangled rival BASF SE.

Jurors in federal court in Cape Girardeau awarded $265 million Saturday to a Missouri farmer who blamed the chemical for destroying his peach orchards. The companies now face more than 140 lawsuits over allegations that dicamba wreaked havoc across the Midwestern U.S. when it drifted onto crops that weren’t engineered to resist it.

While two German industrial giants are involved, the ...