Environmental Protection Agency extends public comment period on dicamba formulations

Tuesday, May 3rd 2016

The Environmental Protection Agency has extended the public comment period on dicamba formulations to be used with Monsanto's new Xtend herbicide trait technology to May 31. That means growers can plant the technology, but will not have a dicamba herbicide available in time to use during the 2016 season. Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer and many other licensees commercialized dicamba-tolerant soybeans for the first time this spring. Farmers have already taken delivery and in some cases planted Roundup Ready 2 Xtend (RR2X) soybeans. Companies have informed DTN that they are working with growers to exchange product upon request. Growers are urged to work with their seed dealers if they wish to swap seed. Growers can still use glyphosate (Roundup) since the RR2X system also contains that trait, but weeds have become increasingly resistant to glyphosate. The RR2X technology also faces an additional marketing hurdle that it lacks import approvals in the European Union, which is an important export market for U.S. soybeans and soybean meal. Many grain elevators, soybean processors and other first purchasers have issued notices stating they will not accept RR2X soybeans this fall without those approvals. Chinese import approvals for the RR2X technology came in February 2016. The American Soybean Association (ASA) issued notice that final approval by the EU Commission has been expected for the past few months. ASA also said approvals were expected before harvest, but were not guaranteed. As of April 27, EPA had received 2,402 comments on the proposed draft label for the dicamba herbicides currently under review for RR2X soybeans. Monsanto's initial application was for what the company has called M1691 -- based on the same salt as Clarity herbicide. Once that registration is received, the company plans to immediately apply for approval of their single dicamba (XtendiMax) and glyphosate/dicamba premix (Roundup Xtend) that contain VaporGrip. BASF has a dicamba-only low-volatility product called Engenia.