German chemical giant Bayer has asked the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve different uses for its banned Xtendimax herbicide, designed for dicamba-tolerant soyabeans and cotton, AgriPulse reported on 5 May.
On 6 February, a federal judge in Arizona had cancelled the EPA’s registrations of dicamba-based weedkillers from 2020, saying the agency violated procedures mandating public input, a 7 February Reuters report said at the time. The ruling affected Bayer's XtendiMax, BASF's Engenia and Sygnenta's Tavium herbicides and was supported by environmental activists as the sprays were known to drift away and damage crops not tolerant to the chemical.
In Bayer’s new label application, the firm had proposed a 12 June cut-off date for application in soyabeans and an end to post-emergence or ‘over the top’ spraying to reduce drift, AgriPulse wrote. For cotton, it had proposed post-emergent use up to 30 July, the same current cut-off date. The proposed new label also specified up to two applications, while the current one did not specify the number of applications permitted.
However, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) said the modifications were not meaningful.
“These changes would not fix the key issues that have resulted in past calamities,” the CBD said.
“Cotton growers would still be allowed to spray into the heat of summer, when volatility is worst, promising continued massive drift wherever cotton is grown. The proposed reductions in the number and amount of annual applications will not have much impact, since growers have historically used far less dicamba than permitted, causing enormous damage nonetheless.”
Farmers had been using dicamba sold before 6 February this season but were concerned that there would not be enough seed or herbicide for 2025 as Bayer’s new application carried a 17-month statutory review time frame, AgriPulse wrote.
“Without the certainty of continued post-emergent dicamba use for 2025 … we will most likely be thrown into an inputs supply chain crisis like we saw after COVID,” AgriPulse quoted American Soybean Association director Alan Meadows as saying.
The EPA has opened Bayer’s proposed label for a 30-day comment period, ending 3 June.
