The formulations include Xtendimax VaporGrip Xtra, Engenia and Tavium.

Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the EPA opted for a five-year registration, which is typical for pesticides, instead of the two years that dicamba has experienced in the past, because they had more data to base this decision upon.

The administration reviewed 65 new studies as well as all literature and consulted with experts before making this decision.

Wheeler said the registrations address the concerns outlined in a Circuit Court of Appeals decision in June.
Source: Farm Journal’s Ag Pro

On June 3, the U.S. Ninth District Court of Appeals ruled that farmers could no longer spray dicamba. Days later, the EPA issued an order canceling the registrations of the three dicamba products (Bayer’s Xtendimax, BASF’s Engenia and Corteva’s FeXapan) but allowing growers and applicators to use existing stocks through July 31.

Opponents of dicamba filed an emergency order with the court asking it to call for an immediate end to use of the herbicide. A coalition of farmers stepped in to ask the court to allow use to continue.

The coalition argued that America’s soybean and cotton growers have spent more than $4 billion on seed and hundreds of millions on herbicides, including Xtendimax, Engenia, and FeXapan.

It went on to say an estimated 64 million acres of dicamba-tolerant seed was already planted and no viable alternative existed for weed control. Losing access to dicamba could lead to yield loss as high as 50 percent, the argument said, with respective losses estimated at as much as $10 billion for soybean growers and $800 million for sorghum growers.

In related news, after a stream of lawsuits against Bayer over its glyphosate weedkiller, and more than a year of negotiations, the company has agreed to a more than $10.5 billion settlement with thousands of plaintiffs who claimed exposure to Roundup was responsible for their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Up to $9.5 billion will be paid to settle the majority of pending litigation, while $1.25 billion will be set aside to resolve future claims and to research whether Roundup causes cancer.

The World Health Organization concluded in 2015 that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen, while the EPA has long maintained that it’s safe. The company intends to continue selling Roundup. The settlement does not contain an admission of liability or wrongdoing.

Brett Begemann, COO for Bayer Crop Science, says the company stands behind its glyphosate and dicamba products, Roundup and XtendiMax. He said no other regulatory body agrees with the WHO’s conclusion on glyphosate as a carcinogen.

Begemann also said he is confident dicamba will get through the EPA
re-registration process for use in 2021.

Sources: Brownfield Ag News, Politico

(Washington, D.C., June 4, 2020) –U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today issued the following statement on the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to vacate Dicamba registrations: â€śProducers need all the tools in their toolbox to produce the world’s food, fuel, and fiber, and USDA re-affirms its support for EPA’s science-based process for assessing and managing ecological risks, balanced against the agricultural and societal benefits of crop protection tools. USDA stands ready to assist its federal partners in meeting that goal. Farmers across America have spent hard earned money on previously allowed crop protection tools. I encourage the EPA to use any available flexibilities to allow the continued use of already purchased dicamba products, which are a critical tool for American farmers to combat weeds resistant to many other herbicides, in fields that are already planted. Unfortunately, the Ninth Circuit has chosen to eliminate one of those tools.”

The penalty was levied on top of $15 million in compensatory damages awarded the day before to peach grower Bill Bader, who farms near Campbell, Mo.

The case was the first in a wave of litigation from farmers who blame drift-prone dicamba herbicides for millions of acres of crop damage in recent years, following the release of seed varieties genetically engineered to tolerate the chemical.

The companies presented separate defenses. Each found that armillaria root rot and other diseases caused Bader’s trees to die.

“While Mr. Bader is claiming losses in his orchards, the evidence fundamentally showed nothing related to Xtend seed or herbicide,” said Chris Hohn, attorney for Monsanto. “What is happening at Bader farms is not dicamba, it’s armillaria root rot.”

 â€śWe are surprised and disappointed with the jury’s decision and plan to appeal,” BASF said in a statement to AgWeb. “Dicamba-based herbicides, like Engenia herbicide, are critically important tools for growers battling resistant weeds in their soybean and cotton fields.”

The EPA has said dicamba does not pose unreasonable risk when used according to instructions.

Sources: AgWeb, Farm Progress, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, DTN