Arkansas Bans Herbicide as Farmers Blame Neighbors for Crop Damage
11 July 2017 - 7:59PM
Dow Jones News
By Jacob Bunge
Crop damage from a powerful herbicide is spreading across the
southern U.S., spurring a flood of complaints to agricultural
agencies and sowing division among farmers.
Hundreds of farms in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri and
Mississippi have reported crops shriveled by dicamba. For farmers,
lower crop yields due to herbicide damage could add to financial
pressures after several years of low crop prices.
Long used to kill weeds, new formulations of the potent chemical
are being widely deployed this year as more farmers plant soybean
and cotton seeds engineered by Monsanto Co. to withstand dicamba.
The St. Louis company estimated in June that about 20 million acres
of its new biotech soybeans had been sold to farmers this year, up
from about 1 million sold in a limited release last year.
The U.S. agriculture industry is betting heavily on new
combinations of biotech seeds and chemicals like dicamba to combat
weeds that have grown resistant to glyphosate, the world's most
widely used herbicide. Glyphosate use has proliferated over the
last 20 years as Monsanto, DuPont Co. and Syngenta AG have rolled
out seeds engineered to survive that spray. That has contributed to
resistant weeds, which can choke out crops and damage farm
equipment if left unchecked -- further eroding already-slim profit
margins for farmers.
But affected farmers say that when neighbors spray dicamba onto
the new biotech crops, some of the herbicide is drifting onto
adjacent fields that aren't planted with resistant varieties,
sometimes severely damaging them.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating
dicamba-related crop damage across multiple states and is
discussing the mounting complaints with pesticide
manufacturers.
Some states are restricting how and when dicamba can be sprayed,
ratcheting up fines for misuse and mandating online training
courses for farmers. On Friday, Missouri Director of Agriculture
Chris Chinn announced a temporary suspension of the use or sale of
the herbicide in the state, following more than 120 complaints of
drift damage. That same day, Arkansas lawmakers banned its use or
sale for 120 days, beginning July 11.
"Everybody's concerned about it," said Brad Doyle, who raises
soybeans and runs a small seed company near Weiner, Ark. The state
has received nearly 600 complaints of dicamba-related crop damage
this year, up from about 30 in 2016, when dicamba-resistant
soybeans were introduced. Complaints have also surged in Tennessee
and Mississippi.
Monsanto and German chemicals conglomerate BASF SE, which makes
a version of the spray, criticized Arkansas for the ban, saying it
deprives farmers of a critical weedkiller in the middle of growing
season.
A BASF spokeswoman said Arkansas' ban "needlessly punishes
growers who have successfully and lawfully used the product, while
failing to provide an effective deterrent to growers who may be
willing to ignore the ban." The state also boosted fines on
"egregious" dicamba violations to $25,000 from $1,000.
A Monsanto spokeswoman said the ban was premature as the causes
of reported crop injuries hadn't been fully investigated. The
company doesn't sell its version of dicamba in Arkansas, because
academics there are still reviewing it.
Developed decades ago, dicamba kills weeds by stimulating rapid
growth that outstrips the plants' nutrient supply. The chemical is
prone to spray drift, prompting chemical makers to recommend it be
applied with special nozzles. Dicamba can also pose a threat if the
pesticide evaporates and spreads in gas form. BASF and Monsanto
have tried to minimize that risk in newer versions that bind the
herbicide more tightly to plants.
Some farmers in Arkansas and Missouri have filed lawsuits
against the two companies, arguing they bear some liability for
dicamba-related crop damage. BASF and Monsanto are contesting the
claims.
Crop scientists are researching the effects dicamba can have on
unmodified soybean plants, such as reducing the number of beans
produced per plant. But some of those efforts are being disrupted
by the spray.
Chuck Wilson, director of the University of Arkansas Northeast
Research and Extension Center, said nearly all of the facility's
soybean research plots were damaged by dicamba in June. About 300
acres of crops were affected, including some planted to research
dicamba drift damage.
"We basically had to start over and replant," Mr. Wilson said,
"and hope they don't get hit again."
--
Jesse Newman
contributed to this article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 11, 2017 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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