Producers have until July 31 to use three products before their federal registrations are revoked
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
U.S. farmers will have a little more time to apply three dicamba products before their federal registrations are removed.
“Growers and commercial applicators may use existing stocks (of XtendiMax, Engenia and FeXapan) that were in their possession on June 3, 2020, the effective date of the court decision,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Monday. “Such use must be consistent with the product’s previously-approved label, and may not continue after July 31, 2020.”
Some individual states have earlier cut-off dates.
Farmers in Minnesota, for example, may not use dicamba after June 20.
On June 3, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the EPA’s registrations of those herbicides because of a lack of EPA transparency about the potential damage dicamba drift can cause.
The ruling doesn’t apply to Syngenta’s Tavium herbicide because the product wasn’t registered when the lawsuit between the National Family Farm Coalition and the EPA was filed.
Farmers are pleased to receive clarification surrounding the use of some dicamba products. But some questions still linger, said Tim Bardole, president of the Iowa Soybean Association.
“Questions remain as to the impact on retailers and the farmers they serve,” he said in a June 9 statement. “We are seeking clarification on how they will be affected if product was purchased by June 3 but has not yet been acquired. Limiting availability to those who were expecting acquisition will place some retailers and farmers at a disadvantage, forcing them into less effective and more expensive weed management alternatives.”
Farms.com has reached out to producers and the American Farm Bureau Federation for comment.