The recent Arizona federal court ruling which vacated the registration for over-the-top application of dicamba products has left many farmers in the lurch. Many growers have already made their orders for the 2024 growing season. What should be done about the existing stocks of dicamba products, many of which are already on hand ready to be used on the farm?
The American Farm Bureau Federation has joined the call along with other ag groups for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue an existing stocks order which would allow farmers to use dicamba products in the upcoming growing season.
American Farm Bureau’s John Walt Boatright says that a previous existing stocks order from the EPA gives AFBF hope that farmers will be able to help protect their soybean and cotton crops with dicamba products this growing season.
AFBF President Zippy Duvall and American Soybean Association officials recently wrote a letter to EPA which urged the greenlight of an existing stocks order, which would allow for the use of dicamba products in the 2024 growing season.
The letter was prompted by the Arizona federal court ruling which did away with registration for three dicamba products which provide farmers with the tools to fight resistant weeds.
Boatright says that the timing of the decision makes for an impossible situation for farmers who have already purchased dicamba products.
The Arizona Federal court’s decision vacated registration for the products Bayer XtendiMax, BASF Enginia and Syngenta Tavium. The ruling declared that EPA failed to offer a required public notice and comment period before issuing the 2020 registrations.
