By Jacob Bunge
A fight over one of the most powerful new weapons against
hard-to-kill weeds, developed by agricultural giant Monsanto Co.,
is spilling into the courts.
Monsanto's new version of the herbicide called dicamba is part
of a more than $1 billion investment that pairs it with new
genetically engineered seeds that are resistant to the spray. But
some farmers say their nonresistant crops suffered after neighbors'
dicamba drifted onto their land.
The agricultural giant in October sued the Arkansas State Plant
Board following the board's decision to bar Monsanto's new
herbicide and propose tougher restrictions on similar weed killers
ahead of the 2018 growing season. Monsanto claims its herbicide is
being held to an unfair standard.
Arkansas has been a flashpoint in the dispute: About 900,000
acres of crops were reported damaged there, more than in any other
state.
About 300 farmers, crop scientists and other attendees gathered
in Little Rock on Wednesday for a hearing on Arkansas's proposed
stiffer dicamba controls, which Monsanto and some farmers are
fighting. The proposed restrictions are subject to the approval of
a subcommittee of state legislators.
Scott Partridge, Monsanto's head of strategy, spoke at the
hearing, as did proponents of tighter restrictions. Monsanto has
criticized some Arkansas state agricultural officials and academics
involved in researching and regulating dicamba, accusing them of
bias and overstepping their authority. "What the plant board did is
very unfortunate for growers in Arkansas," Mr. Partridge said.
An Arkansas State Plant Board spokeswoman declined to
comment.
Farmers in 25 states submitted more than 2,700 claims to state
agricultural agencies that neighbors' dicamba spraying shriveled
3.6 million acres of soybeans and damaged other crops, such as
cantaloupe and pumpkins, according to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
The complaints have farmers and agricultural researchers racing
to figure out how to avoid more collateral damage ahead of next
summer, when Monsanto projects the herbicide will be used on twice
the U.S. farm acreage as this year.
Other states besides Arkansas, including Minnesota, South
Dakota, North Dakota, Tennessee and Indiana, are discussing
additional limits and training requirements for farmers spraying
dicamba, state officials say.
Monsanto had pitched dicamba, along with soybean and cotton
seeds engineered to survive it, to farmers struggling to kill weeds
such as palmer amaranth that can grow so fast and so big --
developing stalks as thick as baseball bats -- that they choke out
crops.
Jonas Oxgaard, an analyst with Bernstein, estimated that the
chemical and related seed sales could generate as much as $350
million in annual profits for Monsanto. "It's their big
moneymaker," he said.
German chemical maker BASF SA is also marketing a new version of
dicamba to pair with the Monsanto-developed crops.
While dicamba has proven able to knock down tough weeds, past
versions of the herbicide have been known for evaporating from
plants after application, which can create a mist prone to floating
into nearby fields. Monsanto and BASF's new formulations are
designed to minimize that effect, the companies have said.
U.S. farmers planted about 25 million acres of dicamba-tolerant
crops this year. Following the damage complaints, the companies in
October agreed with the EPA on tighter controls for those products,
including training farmers on how to manage the chemical and
barring application on windy days.
Arkansas's Plant Board has proposed going further, possibly by
prohibiting dicamba use from mid-April through the end of October
to safeguard growing plants. The state has also refused to approve
Monsanto's dicamba product for use in Arkansas, saying it needs
further analysis by University of Arkansas researchers. Monsanto
argues that other herbicides haven't been subjected to the sort of
further analysis the state wants to apply to Monsanto's dicamba
product.
Even with the reports of widespread damage, farmers and crop
researchers say many affected fields recovered, thanks to good
weather over the latter half of the growing season. The USDA is
projecting a record U.S. soybean crop. The outcome could have been
worse with drier weather, researchers said.
Farmers are exploring their own legal options. Some have joined
class-action lawsuits against Monsanto and BASF, seeking
compensation for damaged crops. The companies are contesting those
lawsuits.
For farmers, "it's highly emotional," said Doug Goehring, North
Dakota's agriculture commissioner.
Tom Burnham, who farms 11,000 acres near Blytheville, Ark., said
he hired a lawyer to advise him on how to handle a neighbor whose
errant dicamba spraying, Mr. Burnham said, reduced some fields'
harvest by 5% to 20%. Mr. Burnham said he didn't expect to make
money on any lawsuit he may file. "I'm doing it just to make a
point."
Write to Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 08, 2017 17:48 ET (22:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.