The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected an emergency motion for an immediate cutoff of farmer use of the weedkiller dicamba, a victory for the EPA plan to allow spraying of the herbicide on GE soybeans and cotton through July 31. The court voided EPA approval of versions of dicamba sold by Bayer, BASF and Corteva on June 3; a few days later, the EPA said farmers could use stocks already on the farm through the end of July.
A coalition of farm and environmental groups, victors in the June 3 ruling, asked for the ban on dicamba and for EPA to be held in contempt for allowing a phase-out.
The American Soybean Association hailed the latest decision by the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco. “Congress has provided for the certainty needed by growers in critical times — like planting season right now — by equipping EPA with the ‘existing stocks’ authority it exercised,” said the commodity group. Soybean growers spent $3.35 billion on soybean seeds and hundreds of millions of dollars on herbicides and other “inputs,” such as fertilizer, it said.
By allowing dicamba until July 31, the EPA effectively allowed use of the chemical for the rest of the soybean and cotton growing seasons. Most states have rules that allow dicamba only in the early weeks after seedlings emerge in an attempt to reduce the chance of damage to neighboring fields.
“However, the legal battle over dicamba is far from over,” said DTN/Progressive Farmer. The appellate court still has on its docket a motion from BASF to recall its June 3 order canceling federal registration of dicamba. On Friday, the same day it rejected the immediate cutoff of dicamba, the court said BASF and Corteva could joint Bayer as defendant-intervenors in the case. The coalition of farm and environmental groups that filed the lawsuit against the EPA has until Tuesday to respond to the motion to recall.
Separately, the EPA is considering applications from chemical companies for approval to sell dicamba in 2021 and following years.