"For generations, American farmers grew wheat, oats, soybeans, and other food crops, allowed them to mature, and harvested them without spraying herbicides over the fields shortly before bringing the crops into the food supply. They relied on natural maturation, field drying, swathing, and mechanical harvesting. These methods were not primitive relics of an agricultural past. They were practical techniques that helped feed a growing nation, and many remain in use today. In fact, organic farmers still routinely use these methods to dry crops prior to processing."
"The practice is called preharvest chemical desiccation. Glyphosate, the active ingredient historically associated with Roundup, is among the chemicals used for this purpose. Others include paraquat, diquat, sodium chlorate, saflufenacil, and carfentrazone, depending on the crop and the product’s regulatory approval."
"Not all of that increase involves preharvest desiccation. Much of glyphosate use is associated with weed management, including the adoption of glyphosate-tolerant crops. It would be inaccurate to attribute the entire increase to spraying immediately before harvest."
Many countries that monitored desiccation now ban it (US does not monitor)
