Nelsen, 2017

Arthur Nelsen, “Monsanto banned from European parliament,” The Guardian, September 28, 2017.

SUMMARY:

Lobbyists affiliated with the company were banned in September 2017 after Monsanto failed to attend a hearing about alleged regulatory interference. The company is under investigation for influencing regulatory studies conducted for glyphosate relicensing.  FULL TEXT

Charles, 2017c

Dan Charles,  “A Wayward Weedkiller Divides Farm Communities, Harms Wildlife,” NPR, October 7, 2017.

SUMMARY:

This NPR radio story focuses on the farmer to farmer conflicts engendered by the dicamba drift crisis.  Some farmers are eager for the new technology to address herbicide-resistant glyphosate, while others are devastated by drift damage.   David Wildly, an Arkansas soybean farmer says “It’s something that is so heartbreaking to me. I see farmers taking sides, and enemies being made.”   Farmers who support dicamba-resistant technology hope everyone will soon be using them so neighbors can’t be harmed.  The story then raises the issue of damage to native vegetation that pollinators rely on.  Richard Coy, a beekeeper with 13,000 hives in some of the most affected states, has seen damage to vegetation impacting blooming.  According to Coy, honey production across the region is down about one-third on average. FULL TEXT

Hettinger, 2017

Johnathan Hettinger, “Complaints surge about weed killer dicamba’s damage to oak trees,” October 9, 2017, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

SUMMARY:

Dicamba drift is being blamed for damage to oak trees in Iowa, Illinois, and Tennessee.  More than 1,000 complaints were filed in Iowa, and in Tennessee the oak trees at the state’s largest natural lake were damaged.  Monsanto declined to comment, and a BASK spokesperson encourages growers who see damage to contact them but states that they “don’t believe volatility is a driving factor based on past research and experience.”  The article reports that internal Monsanto emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, show the company is trying to shift the blame for oak tree damage to other pesticides.  FULL TEXT

American Soybean Association, 2017

American Soybean Association, ” ASA Steps up Urgency in Search for Answers on Dicamba Damage,” ASA News Release,  September 25, 2017.

SUMMARY:

This American Soybean Association (ASA) news release addresses dicamba drift damage, now an issue in 21 of the 30 soybean producing states, and reiterates their support of new formulations since “farmers need and want new technologies to help fight resistant weeds” but call out the “need to ensure that these products can be used by farmers…safely.”  Ron Moore, ASA president and farmer in dicamba-drift affected Illinois is extensively quoted and cites the ASA’s support for independent research at university ag departments in the affected states, and calls for “additional education, applications restrictions, or other actions” to address root causes of the drift problem.  While the problem is mainly stemming from soybeans, Moore recognizes the “good neighbor aspect…ASA has a duty to ensure that we are successfully coexisting with other crops.”  FULL TEXT

Horstmeier, 2017

Greg Horstmeier, ” Dicamba: Arkansas Plant Board Unanimously Sets Mid-April Limit,” AgFax, September 22, 2017.

SUMMARY:

The Arkansas State Plant Board reached a unanimous decision to ban dicamba use in the state from August 16 – October 31, 2018 in an attempt to mitigate damage from drift.  This would allow spring and fall burndown and pre-emergence application, but not the over the top spraying on growing crops that the new formulation and dicamba resistant seeds are engineered for.  Plus, the board passed a resolution commending the Arkansas weed scientists whose scientific integrity was questioned by Monsanto in their bid to persuade the board to reject the proposed ban.  The story includes key new information about volatility research that was presented to the board as part of the hearing process.  Herbicide industry reps continued to downplay volatility and point fingers at operator error, while independent weed scientists reported  that their findings showed that while volatility was lower immediately after spraying, volatilization continued 36 to 72 hours after application, meaning that “over time the amount of volatility between old and new formulations was not statistically different.”  The board also rejected Monsanto’s argument that drift damage appears to not have caused yield loss, and is therefore not important to address.  Board members felt this is “beyond the point when you are talking about pesticide stewardship” and bristled at Monsanto’s characterization of the proposed ban as “arbitrary and capricious.”  FULL TEXT

Polansek, 2017b

Tom Polansek, “EPA to allow use of dicamba next year, but with safeguards,”  St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 19, 2017.

SUMMARY:

This story reports on the EPA’s decision to allow dicamba use in 2018, although with yet to be determined additional rules to mitigate damages.  The acting chief of the herbicide branch Reuben Baris is quoted that “ensuring the technology is available” is the top priority, but that the agency wants to ensure that it is “used responsibly.”  This echoes Monsanto’s argument that the fault lies with applicators and not their product.  While a cutoff date similar to the one proposed in Arkansas (April 15) is one of the options considered, it is considered unlikely as it would not achieve EPA’s goal of “maintaining dicamba’s usefulness.”  FULL TEXT

Carson et al., 2017

Carson Thurman, Preston Lee, Mary Margaret Gay, and John McCants, “Part Two: Dicamba Drift Issues Ensnaring Farmer,” Growing Georgia, August 15, 2017.

SUMMARY:

Summarizes dicamba drift lawsuits thus far.   FULL TEXT

Gray, 2017c

Bryce Gray, “Reported dicamba damage still escalating nationally, according to updated survey,” St Louis Post-Dispatch,  August 14, 2017.

SUMMARY:

University of Missouri weed scientist Kevin Bradley has updated his dicamba damage numbers, showing that numbers have almost doubled already in just a few weeks to 2,242 complaints and an estimated 3.1 million acres.  FULL TEXT

Bennett, 2017c

Chris Bennett (Bennett, 2017c), “Dicamba Lawsuits Mounting,” AgPro, September 14, 2017.

SUMMARY:

Reports that farmers in over 10 states are now involved in dicamba lawsuits, and “dicamba-related litigation has only just begun.”   The core of the cases is that the new dicamba formulations are inherently “incapable of being routinely and safely applied to cotton and soybeans.”  Farmers who suffered damage allege they are victims of Monsanto and BASF putting products on the market that are unsafe.  A few specific suits include:

• Bader Farms- This Missouri orchard saw dicamba damage to 7,000 peach trees in 2016 and 30,000 in 2017, with costs in the millions. Monsanto and BASF are listed in the complaint. Monsanto claims that Xtendimax is not the culprit herbicide in this case. First filed in November 2016.
• Landers et. al v. Monsanto Company- This suit is spearheaded by Steven and Dee Landers from Missouri but includes farmers from Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.  Filed in January 2017.
• Bruce Farms Partnership- Six farms in Arkansas file suit in July 2017 include many similar complaints as other lawsuits but add the claim that dicamba is never safe to spray during the growing season. The complaint states that “given the well-recognized nature and patterns of cultivation in these (and other) regions, the proximity of other non-Xtend crops and plants, and the foreseeable weather patterns and timing of likely application, damage to nontarget crops and plants was inevitable and known to Defendants.”  Despite the companies claims to the contrary, farmers experience with the new formulations have shown that they are very prone to drift.  “How could Monsanto not know? How did they test and where did they test?” asks attorney Paul Byrd.   MOnsanto claims that 99% of Xtendimax applications in 2017 have shown “wonderful results” and that 77% of off-target movements occurred due to the label not being followed ( i.e., operator error).
• Smokey Alley – Also in July, a class action suit in Missouri was filed on behalf of a group of farmers. This suit includes claims of anti-trust activity by BASF, Dupont, and Monsanto.  The widespread introduction of dicamba-resistant technology has forced famers to plant the resistant crops to limit damage.  “[Farmers] want to plant seeds of their choice, but due to damage potential have to consider buying dicamba-tolerant soybeans from a defensive position,” Attorney Paul Lesko.
• B&L Farms – On July 20, 14 producers from Arkansas file a class action suit against Monsanto and BASF including a ” litany of charges related to irresponsible marketing, product liability, breach of implied warranty, deceptive trade practices and more allegations.”  FULL TEXT

Monsanto, 2017b

Ty Vaughn for Monsanto, “Historic Testing of Our Dicamba Formulation, XtendiMax® with VaporGrip® Technology,” Monsanto website, August 24, 2017.

SUMMARY:

In response to criticism that volatility was not adequately studied, the this statement reviews Monsanto’s belief that they conducted extensive and “historic testing” of the new formulations, claiming a 90% reduction in volubility.  FULL TEXT