Monsanto develops product to deactivate controversial farm chemical

Monsanto Co is launching the first product that deactivates a controversial weed killer inside spraying equipment after it is used, the company said on Tuesday, its latest attempt to prevent unintended crop damage associated with the herbicide. The product aims to stop farmers from accidentally applying traces of the herbicide, known as dicamba, on crops that can not tolerate it when the chemical's residue remains in spraying equipment. Growers across the U.S. farm belt said last summer that dicamba herbicides, which are also sold by BASF SE and DowDuPont Inc, vaporized and drifted away from where they were sprayed on soybeans and cotton that Monsanto engineered to resist the chemical.