Bayer AG has asked California's Supreme Court to review a decision awarding $20.5 million to a groundskeeper who claimed the company's Roundup weedkiller caused his cancer, arguing the ruling was at odds with federal law and settled legal principles.

Seeking to enroll about 1,200 row crop farmers in its Bayer Carbon Initiative in the first season, the company announced the latest in a string of recent environmentally focused initiatives by agriculture companies.

Bayer announced a series of agreements that will substantially resolve major outstanding Monsanto litigation, including cases involving U.S. Roundup product liability, dicamba drift and PCB water issues, bringing closure to approximately 75% of the current Roundup litigation involving approximately 125,000 filed and unfiled claims.

Bayer AG agreed to pay $39.5 million to settle allegations that its Monsanto unit ran misleading ads about the controversial Roundup weedkiller and its potential health risks to humans and animals. In addition, the label will be altered to remove language that says glyphosate only affects an enzyme found in plants.

Reuters reports that the German pharmaceutical and chemicals company has won over Monsanto with an improved bid of $66 billion, the largest takeover of the year.

Reuters reports that Monsanto Co. turned down a sweetened $64 billion acquisition offer from Bayer AG, but said it was open to further talks with the German healthcare and chemicals group as well as other parties.

Monsanto Co. today announced that its Board of Directors unanimously views the Bayer AG proposal as incomplete and financially inadequate, but is open to continued and constructive conversations to assess whether a transaction in the best interest of Monsanto shareowners can be achieved.

Bloomberg reports that Bayer AG is considering purchasing Monsanto Co. in a deal that would create the world's largest seed and farm chemicals supplier.