dicamba

An Arkansas judge ruled that a State Plant Board regulation that bars use of the weedkiller dicamba on cotton and soybeans from April 16-Oct. 31 does not apply to six farmers, said DTN/Progressive Farmer. The growers sued the board last year over the ban and wound up in a legal limbo due to a state Supreme Court ruling that state agencies are protected from lawsuits under the doctrine of sovereign immunity.

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."

The Arkansas State Plant Board, responding to nearly 1,000 complaints of crop damage due to dicamba, voted in January to bar use of the herbicide on cotton and soybeans during the 2018 growing season. Now Monsanto, dicamba’s maker, has “sued the board and each individual member,” reports NPR.

Monsanto’s dominance of the market for genetically modified soybeans may soon be threatened, as competitors BASF and DowDuPont prepare to bring their versions of the seed to market.

The bicameral Arkansas Legislative Council approved a ban on spraying the weedkiller dicamba on cotton and soybeans from April 16-Oct. 31 in hopes of preventing damage to neighboring crops. By essentially banning the herbicide for the growing season, Arkansas is at the forefront of several states that set stricter rules on the chemical than mandated by the EPA, which itself tightened its rules on when and how the weedkiller can be used.

A legislative subcommittee supported the Arkansas State Plant Board’s plan to ban use of the weedkiller dicamba from April 16 to Oct. 31 this year. The bicameral Legislative Council is scheduled to take a final vote on the proposal on Friday, said the Associated Press.

The little-known U.S. Judicial Panel on Mulitdistrict Litigation is scheduled to hear arguments on Jan. 25 in Miami on one of the hottest issues in agriculture — claims of crop damage due to the weedkiller dicamba, said the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The panel will decide whether to centralize more than a dozen lawsuits filed in four states against the makers of dicamba, which would mean one court would oversee the cases.

The world’s largest seed and ag-chemical company said it expects U.S. farmers will plant 40 million acres of its dicamba-tolerant GMO soybeans this year, double the 2017 total and equal to four of every 10 acres of projected soybean sowings.

The Arkansas State Plant Board voted for the second time on dicamba regulations and had the same answer: a ban from April 16 to Oct. 31 on use of the weedkiller on cotton and soybeans, said the Associated Press.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture was warned a year ago about the potential crop damage that could be caused by the herbicide dicamba if the department didn’t tighten regulations on its use, says a report by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture set a June 20 cut-off date for spraying the weedkiller dicamba on GE soybeans and barred application of the herbicide when temperatures top 85 degrees, said the Associated Press.

The world's largest seed company, Monsanto is offering a 55 percent rebate to cotton and soybean growers who buy its weedkiller, dicamba, for 2018 crops, said Reuters. Weed specialists said the cash-back offer could persuade growers to buy the herbicide, and the pricey GE seeds that are paired with it, despite stricter EPA rules on who can apply the herbicide and when it can be used.

After users complained of skin irritation, including rashes, Monsanto is delaying until further notice the launch of NemaStrike — a new farm chemical used to kill worms on corn, soybeans and cotton. “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did extensive evaluations of the product before approving it for use, according to Monsanto, which has described NemaStrike as ‘blockbuster technology,’” reports Reuters. Monsanto argues that some of its field testers may have been using the spray incorrectly or not wearing the proper protection.

Faced by hundreds of complaints of crops damaged by dicamba, the Arkansas Plant Board proposed a ban on use of the weedkiller on soybeans and cotton for most of the 2018 growing season.

Most of the pesticide retailers who took part in an Illinois trade association poll reported damage from the weedkiller dicamba even when the weedkiller was sprayed in good conditions, says the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting (MCIR). Separately, the University of Missouri said the herbicide was blamed for damage to 3.6 million acres of soybeans as of Oct. 15, a 16 percent increase from its Aug 10 tally.

State agriculture commissioner Doug Goehring announced “North Dakota-specific” rules on use of the weedkiller dicamba on GE soybeans in the new crop year. They include a ban on spraying when temperatures top 85 degrees and a total cutoff of dicamba use after June 30.

Monsanto is fighting back as agricultural scientists accuse the company of misleading farmers about the safety of its weedkiller dicamba. The chemical has been blamed for millions of dollars in crop damage this year.

State officials should set a cut-off date for spraying dicamba on genetically engineered soybeans as well as a temperature cut-off of 85 degrees to reduce greatly the chance of damage to neighboring crops, says a task force of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association. The state restrictions would be in addition to the more stringent rules recently adopted by the EPA.