Farm Bureau Calls on EPA to Provide Clarity on Dicamba Ruling

The American Farm Bureau Federation is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to allow farmers who have already purchased dicamba products to use existing stock this season. Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals prohibited the use of three dicamba products, effectively taking them off the market as of June 3, 2020.

Based on the EPA’s previous approval of dicamba, farmers across the country have already invested in dicamba-resistant seeds.

“An unexpected and immediate ban on dicamba products not only puts substantial farm investments at risk, but also leaves farmers wondering how they’ll protect their crops. It’s imperative that the EPA quickly provide clarity to farmers,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall.

President Duvall sent a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler asking the agency to issue an existing stock order, which would allow farmers to use dicamba products through this growing season.

In the letter, President Duvall wrote, “AFBF does not condone off-label use of dicamba or any registered pesticide. But responsible farmers who have invested in – and often taken loans out to purchase – dicamba-resistant products for the current growing season should not bear the financial burden caused by this legal dispute.”

Read the letter to the EPA here.

Read more on the effects of the dicamba ruling here.