Missouri Ag Department lifts temporary halt to dicamba use

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Agriculture has lifted a temporary halt to the use and sales of products labeled for agricultural use that contain the herbicide dicamba, saying it's satisfied by new safeguards involving the chemical.

The department had issued the ban July 7, citing more than 130 complaints the chemical had drifted onto farm land, damaging thousands of acres of crops.

The order for Xtendimax, Engenia and FeXapan herbicides was lifted Thursday after special provisions and safeguards for using the technology were developed and approved with the herbicide makers' cooperation. Older forms of dicamba remain off-limits to Missouri farmers.

Farmers have complained illegal spraying of dicamba has drifted and damaged crops that have not been genetically altered to tolerate it.

Soybeans are particularly sensitive to dicamba, but complaints also have involved cotton, peaches, tomatoes and melons.

Representatives from St. Louis-based biotech company Monsanto, which produces the herbicide Xtendimax as well as corresponding genetically modified seeds, weighed in on the situation during a conference call Thursday.

Monsanto's North America vice president, Lisa Safarian, praised Missouri's decision to allow newer formulas while maintaining a ban on older dicamba products, which she said are about 100 times more "volatile," or prone to drift.

She criticized states such as Arkansas, whose wholesale ban on dicamba products she said was a rush to judgment.

"Simply banning a tool that is important to many farmers' success at this late stage in the season after growers have already made their crop-protection decisions will hurt more farmers and not get states any closer to an effective solution," she said.

She said the Xtendimax formula is already in use on 25 million acres of farmland.

Monsanto's chief technology officer Robb Fraley said it's important to understand most farmers who used Xtendimax formula and seeds saw positive outcomes.

"On the other hand, I saw some fields with clear symptomology. Especially Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri," he said. "And I understand why those farmers are frustrated and are looking for answers."

He said it's not always obvious how damage such as leaf "cupping" can occur. Sometimes, he said, residue from older dicamba formulas can contaminate farm equipment such as sprayers if they aren't cleaned out properly.

Some damage, he said, comes from "a few bad actors" who use dicamba improperly, ignoring safety guidelines, which is illegal.

He applauded Missouri lawmakers for seeking to increase fines associated with off-label dicamba use.

Asked how the current dicamba controversy measures up with the original rollout of Roundup seeds in 1996, Fraley said there were setbacks back then as well.

"My experience is that in almost every technology, in that first year, you know there's kinks you need to work out," he said. "As we look at the experiences we gained from this year on the 25 million acres that the technology has been planted on, there's things we'll be able to look at and continue to make suggestions and change recommendations."

Southeast Missourian reporter Tyler Graef contributed some information to this story.