Following a federal judge’s recent decision to revoke the EPA’s approval that had allowed for the over-the-top use of dicamba herbicide products on soybeans, the agency has issued an Existing Stocks Order that allows the limited sale and distribution of dicamba products that were already in possession of growers or in trade channels outside of the control of pesticide companies before February 6.
In a court ruling on Tuesday, Feb. 6, U.S. District Court judge David Bury said that the EPA violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act’s public input requirement before giving its approval in 2020 for dicamba herbicide products. The lawsuit was brought forth in Center for Biological Diversity v. EPA.
The EPA issued its “existing stocks” order after receiving enough evidence that millions of gallons of dicamba herbicide products had already entered the trade channels before February 6. Plus, the agency was notified that growers weren’t able to switch to other options due to the timing of the Arizona court’s decision.
The order applies only to dicamba herbicide products designed to use over-the-top of dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton. Those products include Xtendimax (Bayer), Engenia (BASF) and Tavium (Syngenta).
Several U.S. ag leaders expressed their appreciation for the EPA’s Existing Stocks Order on over-the-top dicamba use in 2024.
Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA):
“As co-regulatory partners with EPA committed to preserving environmental stewardship, protecting the rural economy and securing a healthy food supply chain, NASDA commends EPA on issuing an existing stocks order for dicamba that is inclusive of products that are in the possession of growers or in the channels of trade. Today’s action will prevent severe detrimental impacts to our food, fuel and fiber availability.”
Chuck Conner, President and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC):
“I would like to express our appreciation for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action today in issuing an existing stock order for dicamba products whose registration was vacated last week by a federal court in Arizona.”
“By moving quickly and allowing use of product already in the supply chain, EPA is providing some level of certainty for cotton and soybean producers across the country. NCFC and its members will continue to analyze the order in the coming days and we look forward to engaging further with EPA on questions we have on specifics.”
Josh Gackle, President of the American Soybean Association:
“The court’s decision on dicamba instantly left tens of millions of acres of U.S. farmland in limbo—and in limbo a matter of weeks before spring planting. We appreciate the certainty EPA’s existing stocks order provides to farmers from North Dakota where I farm all the way to Florida and everywhere in between. This ruling potentially affects more than 50 million acres of dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton—an area larger than the state of Nebraska—so again, we are very appreciative of EPA’s decision to let us get through the 2024 growing season by using any product already in the delivery pipeline.”
Zippy Duvall, President of American Farm Bureau Federation:
“We are grateful to EPA for hearing farmers’ and ranchers’ concerns and addressing them quickly to ensure we have access to the critical tools needed to protect our crops this season. Without EPA stepping in, farmers and ranchers across the country were facing uncertainty and financial risk.
“Farmers are committed to the safe use of all crop protection tools, and many had already made planting decisions with dicamba-tolerant crop systems in place for the season. We rely on science-based guidance from EPA, and we appreciate the agency standing by farmers and science in this decision today.”
Click HERE to read the EPA’s Existing Stocks Order.
