COLUMBIA, Tenn. — On February 6th, an Arizona Federal court ruled to vacate the registration of three dicamba products – XtendiMax, Engenia, and Tavium. In his opinion, U.S. District Federal Judge David Bury determined the EPA did not afford notice or comment when it issued “new use” registrations for cotton and soybean dicamba-tolerant crops in 2020. In response, Tennessee Farm Bureau, American Farm Bureau, other commodity organizations, and members of Congress implored EPA to grant an existing stocks order for these products.
In response to this ruling and announcement the Tennessee General Assembly passed HJR 937, which honors and recognizes Tennessee farmers and their farming practices, including the use of Dicamba, which has been a massive aide to the agriculture community of Tennessee. This Resolution, sponsored by Representative Rusty Grills (R – Newbern) received unanimous support in the Senate.
“The farmers in Tennessee depend on dicamba to keep their crops clean. With the expansion of resistant weeds, it is paramount the courts reconsider the erroneous ruling from February.” Said Grills, upon the Resolution’s passage.
Since this ruling, the EPA has issued an Existing Stocks Order for dicamba products previously registered for over-the-top (OTT) use on dicamba-tolerant cotton and soybeans. In their announcement, EPA recognized that “millions of gallons of OTT dicamba had already entered the channels of trade prior to February 6, 2024,” and, “most growers have already placed orders for dicamba-tolerant seed for the 2024 growing season and, given the timing of these registrations being vacated, are not able to pivot to another herbicide-tolerant seed and herbicide system.”
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–Tennessee Farm Bureau