State group urges dicamba exemption
The Agricultural Council of Arkansas has joined other groups in calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue an emergency exemption allowing farmers to use up existing stocks of dicamba products for the upcoming planting season after a federal district court order vacated the registration of certain dicamba herbicides for over-the-top use in dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton last week.
At least four letters from agriculture-related organizations were sent to the EPA within two days of the court order on Feb. 6.
The U.S. District Court of Arizona vacated 2020 registrations for Monsanto (now Bayer) XtendiMax, BASF’s Engenia and Syngenta’s Tavium that allowed for over-the-top use of the dicamba products by U.S. farmers last week. The letters ranged from calling on the EPA to pursue an appeal of the federal court decision and request an immediate stay of the order; to issuing a final cancellation order that includes an emergency exemption that would allow farmers to use up existing stocks of the dicamba products to be sold and used; or to issue an emergency use label if there are known product shortages and no alternatives available to farmers for the upcoming growing season.
Agricultural Council of Arkansas President Nathan Reed sent a letter to EPA administrator Michael S. Regan on February 8. The agricultural advocacy group represents farmers, landowners, and agriculture-related businesses involved in row crop production in Arkansas.
The council’s letter indicated the court ruling will create a number of challenges for Arkansas farmers with the planting season looming in the next couple of months, “We believe it merits immediate consideration
of extraordinary measures to allow for certain exceptions to allow for limited continued use for the 2024 crop year with existing stocks in the supply chain.”
“The ruling this week caught many farmers off-guard and created a chaotic environment for the 2024 crop year. We have concerns with the cost of compliance for many farmers who have made plans to utilize dicamba technologies for the coming year. We also have concerns for farmers who made plans to grow non-dicamba tolerant varieties of crops. Compliance costs and risks of non-compliance threaten all Arkansas farmers at a time in which USDA already estimates dramatic declines in farm income.” The National Cotton Council of America’s letter, which called for an appeal, said dicamba-tolerant varieties account for more than 75% of U.S. cotton acres.
“The ruling comes at an especially problematic time of the year as many producers have already made their cropping decisions, secured seed, and are doing preparatory fieldwork,” the letter stated.
“The timing of this ruling also will not allow for the production of seed with alternative herbicide technology in time for 2024 planting. Without widely available alternatives, losing the foundational herbicides in the dicamba-tolerant weed control system will put millions of acres in jeopardy of reduced production. The loss of over-the-top dicamba products exacerbates an already difficult economic situation with current prices below the costs of production.” The Agricultural Retailers Association, which called for an appeal, an existing stocks option and an emergency use label, stated the timing of the court’s decision would be “extremely disruptive” to farmers, agricultural retailers and manufacturers who planned to use dicamba in 2024.
The American Soybean Association, in a joint letter with the Arkansas Soybean Association and 25 other soybean groups, called for an appeal and existing stocks order. “Soybean farmers rely on post-emergent dicamba to manage yield-robbing weeds, which have the potential to steal more than half of a crop’s yield and inflict more than $15 billion in damages to U.S. soybean crops if not properly managed. Some weed varieties, such as palmer amaranth, can exact catastrophic yield losses of nearly 80% if not controlled.”