Georgia’s Agricultural Commissioner Gary Black says that he is “disappointed” with a Federal court ruling concerning a popular herbicide that is used by Georgia farmers. The ruling came down this week after a court found that the EPA approval of the herbicide “Dicamba” made by Bayer.
Black issued a statement saying, “We strongly disagree with the 9th Circuit’s decision, which is likely to cause devastation within our agricultural community,” said Commissioner Black. “Georgia farmers made tens of millions of dollars’ worth of business decisions six months ago relying on the sanctity of federal rule, and this decision unfairly attempts to change the rules after the race has started.”
Citing drift concerns, the ruling from a three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in San Francisco overturned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of the use of dicamba, a weed killer used on millions of acres of soybean and cotton crops.
“The partnership we have led for over five years involving our producers, EPA and the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that proper training and rigid, science-based best management practices fully support the safety of this technology.”
The consequences for weed control this summer could be serious if the ruling stands.
“Farm families across this nation need every tool possible in their toolbox,” said Commissioner Black. “This decision must be challenged.”
The decision by the US court of appeals for the ninth circuit invalidates the registrations for dicamba-based herbicides made by Monsanto, which is owned by Bayer AG, BASF and Corteva Agrisciences that are designed to be sprayed on genetically engineered soybeans and cotton. The court order effectively makes it illegal for farmers to continue to use the dicamba herbicides this summer as they tend to millions of acres of crops.
In a stinging rebuke, the court said it had no choice but to cancel the EPA’s approval of the herbicides because the agency had strayed so far from its duty to properly assess the dangers presented by the “new use” of dicamba.
An EPA spokesman said the agency was currently reviewing the court decision and “will move promptly to address the court’s directive”.
The issue at the heart of the court case is a crop and chemical system designed by Monsanto, which was acquired by Bayer in 2018. The company said that soybean and cotton farmers could plant “dicamba-tolerant” versions of the crops and then spray new types of dicamba herbicides directly over the top of their fields to easily kill weeds. Previously, farmers used dicamba sparingly and were largely restricted from using dicamba during the growing season because the chemical can easily drift long distances, killing or injuring a wide array of crops and other plants it settles on.
Monsanto, BASF and Corteva Agriscience told the EPA that their herbicides would have low volatility and if farmers followed instructions on the product labels, they could prevent drift. But since the introduction of the new dicamba crops and herbicides, farmer complaints have been filed with state agricultural officials, reporting dicamba damage across several million acres in at least a dozen states.
Comments
Very disappointing!!! Herbicide is a killer, it’s a cancer agent.