Panel approves temporary ban on herbicide
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas took the first steps Friday toward temporarily banning the sale and use of an herbicide that has prompted hundreds of complaints and a federal lawsuit from farmers who say it has caused widespread damage to crops.
The Arkansas State Plant Board approved the 120-day restriction on dicamba on a 9-5 vote. Dicamba is a relatively inexpensive weed killer but can drift and damage nearby row crops, such as soybeans and cotton in addition to fruit and vegetable farms and ornamental trees. The restriction must also be approved by the governor and a legislative panel.
The plant board has received 247 complaints in 19 counties this year about dicamba's use, and a group of farmers filed a class-action suit this month against the makers of the herbicide over damage to their crops. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for damage to crops, fruits and trees that weren't dicamba-resistant. The state last year received a little over two dozen complaints over the herbicide.
"We don't have an emergency. We have a disaster," plant board member Terry Fuller said after the vote. "It's damage everywhere you look."
An identical ban failed before the panel on Tuesday, but the board scheduled a revote after officials said it only needed majority support among the members present rather than a majority of the 16-member panel. The board on Friday also rescinded an alternate proposal it had approved Tuesday that allowed the spray but with restrictions on how it's applied.
Opponents of the ban have said more investigation is needed on whether the damage is due to how the herbicide is being applied and whether other restrictions could help address the concerns raised by farmers around the state.
"I just have a difficult time making decisions without information," said Jammy Turner, a board member who voted against the restriction. "I just don't think that's responsible and I think we owe our farmers and Arkansas agriculture more than that."
BASF, which makes the only dicamba herbicide that's been approved for use in Arkansas, said it has found in its field visits that a vast majority of growers are successfully applying the herbicide to dicamba-tolerant crops.
"A more prudent approach would take all viewpoints, risks, benefits and confirmed facts into full consideration. This same board put in place guidance after carefully reviewing the chemistry and proper application," the company said in a statement.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he wanted to review the proposed restriction in more detail.
"I have consistently supported the Plant Board in its protection of Arkansas agriculture, and I expect this recommended rule will ultimately go to the legislature for additional review and action," Hutchinson said in a statement.