The world’s largest seed and ag-chemical company, Monsanto, says it is considering its options after a court dismissed its lawsuit challenging the Arkansas ban of its weedkiller dicamba on row crops during the growing season, said the Associated Press. “Arkansas has the toughest restriction in place on dicamba, though several states have imposed other restrictions or requirements.”
Monsanto contended that the State Plant Board acted irresponsibly in approving the ban, which will run April 16-Oct. 31. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza pointed to a recent state Supreme Court decision that strengthened state immunity from lawsuits. The judge ruled the same day that he heard hours of arguments on the lawsuit. The AP quoted him as saying the Supreme Court ruling “prevents us from hearing this case at this moment.”
The state plant board received nearly 1,000 complaints of crop damage due to dicamba last year, the second year in a row of widespread complaints that the herbicide damaged neighboring fields despite a new, lower-volatility formulation of the chemical. Monsanto says operator error is to blame in most instances. The company says it expects its dicamba-resistant soybean seeds to be planted on 40 percent of U.S. soybean land this year, double its 2017 market share.