Exclusive: EPA eyes limits for
agricultural chemical linked to crop damage
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[September 05, 2017]
By Tom Polansek and Emily Flitter
(Reuters) - The U.S. environmental agency
are considering banning sprayings of the agricultural herbicide dicamba
after a set deadline next year, according to state officials advising
the agency on its response to crop damage linked to the weed killer.
Setting a cut-off date, possibly sometime in the first half of 2018,
would aim to protect plants vulnerable to dicamba, after growers across
the U.S. farm belt reported the chemical drifted from where it was
sprayed this summer, damaging millions of acres of soybeans and other
crops.
A ban could hurt sales by Monsanto Co <MON.N> and DuPont which sell
dicamba weed killers and soybean seeds with Monsanto's dicamba-tolerant
Xtend trait. BASF <BASFn.DE> also sells a dicamba herbicide.
It is not yet known how damage attributed to the herbicides, used on
Xtend soybeans and cotton, will affect yields of soybeans unable to
withstand dicamba because the crops have not been harvested.
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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discussed a deadline for next
year's sprayings on a call with state officials last month that
addressed steps the agency could take to prevent a repeat of the damage,
four participants on the call told Reuters.
It was the latest of at least three conference calls the EPA has held
with state regulators and experts since late July dedicated to
dicamba-related crop damage and the first to focus on how to respond to
the problem, participants said.
A cut-off date for usage in spring or early summer could protect
vulnerable plants by only allowing farmers to spray fields before
soybeans emerge from the ground, according to weed and pesticide
specialists.
Monsanto spokeswoman Christi Dixon told Reuters on Aug. 23, the day of
the last EPA call, that the agency had not indicated it planned to
prohibit sprayings of dicamba herbicides on soybeans that had emerged.
That action "would not be warranted," she said.
The EPA had no immediate comment.
EPA officials on the last call made clear that it would be unacceptable
to see the same extent of crop damage again next year, according to
Andrew Thostenson, a pesticide specialist for North Dakota State
University who participated in the call.
They said "there needed to be some significant changes for the use rules
if we're going to maintain it in 2018," he said about dicamba usage.
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State regulators and university specialists from Arkansas, Missouri,
Illinois, Iowa and North Dakota are pressuring the EPA to decide soon on
rules guiding usage because farmers will make planting decisions for
next spring over the next several months.
Tighter usage limits could discourage cash-strapped growers from buying
Monsanto's more expensive dicamba-resistant Xtend soybean seeds.
Dicamba-tolerant soybeans cost about $64 a bag, compared with about $28
a bag for Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybeans and about $50 a bag for
soybeans resistant to Bayer's Liberty herbicide.
Already, a task force in Arkansas has advised the state to bar dicamba
sprayings after April 15 next year, which would prevent most farmers
there from using dicamba on Xtend soybeans after they emerge.
Arkansas previously blocked sales of Monsanto's dicamba herbicide,
XtendiMax with VaporGrip, in the state.
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![](../images/090517pics/news_n27.jpg)
John Weiss looks over his crop of soybeans, which he had reported to
the state board for showing signs of damage due to the drifting of
Monsanto's pesticide Dicamba, at his farm in Dell, Arkansas, U.S.
July 25, 2017. REUTERS/Karen Pulfer Focht/File Photo
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"If the EPA imposed a April 15 cut-off date for dicamba spraying, that
would be catastrophic for Xtend - it invalidates the entire point of
planting it," said Jonas Oxgaard, analyst for investment management firm
Bernstein.
Monsanto has projected its Xtend crop system would return a $5 to $10
premium per acre over soybeans with glyphosate resistance alone,
creating a $400-$800 million opportunity for the company once the seeds
are planted on an expected 80 million acres in the United States,
according to Oxgaard.
By 2019, Monsanto predicts U.S. farmers will plant Xtend soybeans on 55
million acres, or more than 60 percent of the total planted this year.
RISKY DRIFT
About 3.1 million acres of soybeans vulnerable to dicamba were hurt by
sprayings this summer, accounting for 3.5 percent of U.S. plantings,
according to the University of Missouri. (Graphic:
http://tmsnrt.rs/2feVSxz)
Chemical companies have blamed the crop damage on farmers misusing the
herbicides.
Specialists, though, say the weed killers are also risky because they
have a tendency to vaporize and drift across fields, referred to as
volatility. Summer can be a riskier time for sprayings, they said,
because high temperatures can increase volatility.
Monsanto previously denied requests by university researchers to study
its XtendiMax herbicide for volatility, as previously reported by
Reuters. In the end, the EPA gave dicamba weed killers from Monsanto and
BASF abridged two-year registrations, less than the five years experts
say is more common.
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To address the crop damage, the EPA has also asked state officials about
enhanced training for dicamba users; tighter restrictions on when and
how the herbicides can be sprayed; and the possibility of reclassifying
the products so the general public could not buy them, according to
participants on the call.
"Everything is an option," said Jason Norsworthy, a University of
Arkansas professor who was on the call.
Monsanto Chief Technology Officer Robb Fraley said in a statement that
the company was communicating with the EPA, which is "evaluating
potential actions to facilitate enhanced training and compliance for
2018."
DuPont, too, is working with the EPA and state regulators on issues
involving its dicamba herbicide, FeXapan, spokeswoman Laura Svec said.
Rival BASF "could see some label enhancements" to its dicamba herbicide,
Engenia, if the EPA requires changes, spokeswoman Odessa Hines told
Reuters. The company "will be as flexible as possible" so farmers can
use the product, she said.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago and Emily Flitter in New York.
Additional reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago and Rod Nickel in
Winnipeg)
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