Some often wonder why there have not been any new herbicide modes of action [or MOAs] registered in the past decade or so.

In fact, it has been more than 30 years since the last unique herbicide MOA (HPPD/group 27) was introduced to the U.S. market.

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As usual, there is no easy answer as to why there are no new MOAs, but here are some things to understand about the process and why we still don’t have new herbicide MOAs on the horizon:

It is hard to do. It is getting more difficult to discover new and unique molecules with herbicidal activity. It is estimated that for every 150,000 molecules analyzed for pesticidal properties, only one may have the potential to be taken to the next stage of development. And the success rate of it at each testing stage continues to dwindle.

Testing is rigorous. Any potential herbicide MOA candidate must pass a battery of toxicological, environmental and field-scale testing that can take at least 10 years or more before it can be launched commercially.

So, if a viable molecule was discovered this year, it would not be available for farmers to use until at least 2035. 

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It costs a lot of money. It is estimated that it costs between $250 million and $300 million to bring an herbicide product to market. 

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