NCC: Dicamba Herbicides Are Essential Tool

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The National Cotton Council (NCC) says that U.S. cotton producers will face a serious challenge if not able to use dicamba herbicides this season.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the registration of Xtendimax (Bayer), FeXapan (Corteva), and Engenia (BASF) dicamba herbicides on June 3. The panel acknowledged the difficulties producers may have finding effective and legal herbicides to protect their dicamba tolerant crops but cited the absence of substantial evidence to support EPA’s January 11, 2019 decision to grant a conditional two-year registration for the dicamba products.

In response to the panel’s opinion, NCC President/CEO Gary Adams stated that the U.S. cotton industry would support an appeal of the decision.

In a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, Adams outlined cotton producers’ difficult position and urged the agency to allow the use of existing stocks and/or take other administrative action to allow producers to legally implement weed control programs this season using dicamba.
 
Adams noted that the NCC has worked closely with EPA, other stakeholders and the cotton industry’s agribusiness allies to ensure the availability of dicamba herbicides which are “a major component of weed resistance management, especially against Palmer amaranth.”

“We will continue those efforts in the coming days and weeks,” he said.