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Monsanto Co, whose Roundup product is one of the world's most widely used herbicides, said on Tuesday it has arranged for an outside scientific review of a World Health Organization finding that the weed killer's key ingredient probably causes cancer.The WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said in March that it had concluded that the ingredient, called glyphosate, was probably carcinogenic after reviewing a range of scientific literature.

Monsanto President Brett Begemann on Thursday told U.S. soybean growers that if it buys Syngenta, the combined company would be run out of the United States and enough Syngenta operations would be shed to ensure continued market competition for seeds and chemicals."There will be good competition. Whatever choice was available before the transaction, if there is one, will be available after the transaction," Begemann said in a presentation to the United Soybean Board (USB) in Des Moines, Iowa.

The White House on Thursday directed the three U.S. agencies that oversee biotech crop products to improve and modernize their regulatory "framework" to boost public confidence in a system that critics call a failure.The order, announced in a statement by President Barack Obama's Office of Science and Technology Policy, followed demands by consumers, food-related organizations and businesses for tighter U.S. regulation of genetically modified (GMO) crops, amid a nationwide debate over whether they should be labeled.

Monsanto Co's efforts to expand its agrichemical interests beyond what has long been its bread-and-butter glyphosate herbicide business were underscored on Wednesday by news the company plans to invest potentially more than $1 billion in a production facility for an alternative herbicide.Monsanto officials expect to spend the money over the next three to five years expanding a plant in Luling, Louisiana, to produce the weed-killing agent called dicamba. Luling has been a key location for glyphosate production for years.

Monsanto Co, the world's largest seed company, reported a better-than-expected profit for the third quarter on Wednesday but warned of market challenges ahead, and said it continues to pursue the acquisition of Swiss rival Syngenta AG. Monsanto, known for its genetically engineered corn, soybeans and other crops as well as its popular Roundup herbicide, said for the quarter it made $1.14 billion, or $2.39 a share, up from $858 million, or $1.62 a share, a year earlier.

A widely used farm chemical used as a key ingredient in a new herbicide developed by Dow AgroSciences "possibly" causes cancer in humans, a World Health Organization research unit has determined.The classification of the weed killer, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, known as 2,4-D, was made by the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Dozens of consumer and food groups and businesses asked the U.S. government on Monday for tighter regulation of genetically engineered crops, calling the current system a "failure."The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it was considering changes to the way it regulates biotech crops and set a public comment period that expired Monday.

The World Health Organization is set to examine a widely used pesticide and agribusiness is bracing for bad news, less than three months after the group classified another popular herbicide as "probably" cancer-causing.Twenty-four scientists representing WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) are set to analyze scientific findings regarding links between cancer in humans and the herbicide known as 2,4-D at a June 2-9 meeting in Lyon, France.

U.S. environmental regulators on Thursday proposed a rule that would create temporary pesticide-free zones to protect commercial honeybees, which are critical to food production and have been dying off at alarming rates.The restrictions would cover times when specific plants are in bloom and when commercial honeybees are being moved through certain areas, EPA officials said.

Monsanto Co, the world's largest seed company, is also known for the popularity of its Roundup herbicide, a weedkiller beloved by farmers and homeowners alike for its speed and deadly assault on tough weeds.But Monsanto's ongoing efforts to try to take over Swiss agrochemicals firm Syngenta, a rival whose product portfolio offers an array of agricultural chemicals, could spark a sell-off or de-emphasis of a product line that last year brought in roughly $5 billion, or a third of total revenues for Monsanto, according to industry sources.