The court saga over dicamba continues with a small victory
for farmers who had already purchased one of the affected dicamba herbicides
for use during the 2020 growing season. The events began on June 3 when the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued a ruling that immediately banned
current U.S. registrations of certain low-volatility dicamba herbicide products.
BASF’s Engenia®, Corteva’s FeXapan® and Bayer’s XtendiMax® dicamba herbicide-related products are affected by the
decision.
On June 8, the EPA issued a cancellation order that provided
clarity for farmers on what the court’s ruling meant for this year’s crops. The
EPA order said growers and commercial applicators may use existing stocks of
the three dicamba products that were in their possession June 3. The user must
follow the previously approved label and cease use of these products after July
31, 2020.
In response, on June 11 the original plaintiffs in the case
filed for an emergency motion to immediately vacate the EPA’s cancellation order
and to hold the EPA in contempt for issuing the order. They claimed the
EPA cancellation order defied the court’s June 3 decision by allowing for
continued use of the three dicamba products.
The 9th Circuit Court ruled
against this petition June 19, allowing EPA’s cancellation order to remain in effect.
This means growers will be able to continue to use their existing stocks of the
three dicamba products until July 31. While this court drama does not
impact aerial applicators because none of the products were labeled for aerial
use, NAAA will continue to monitor the situation since it is highly likely environmental
activists will continue to use this strategy to try to circumvent the EPA’s
science-based decision-making in their attempts to ban pesticides.
