Farmers Need Access to Crop Protection Tools

February 15, 2024 | Brock Johnston

Ankeny, Iowa – The Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) commends the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for issuing an existing stocks order for the distribution and use of dicamba products in 2024. The agency’s action yesterday follows a Feb. 6 federal court decision in Arizona which vacated registrations for dicamba, preventing soybean farmers from using an important crop protection tool in the upcoming growing season.

Tom Adam, ISA district 9 director and soybean farmer from Harper, issued the following statement:

“Farmers need access to crop protection tools, plain and simple. The court’s recent decision on dicamba immediately impacted millions of U.S. farmland acres, including soybean acres here in Iowa, by removing an important tool to fight resistant weeds. Farmers would not be capable of producing reliable, high-quality crops to meet demand—or have the financial means to do so—without them. With spring quickly approaching, many farmers have already made planting decisions well in advance and placed significant financial investment in dicamba-tolerant crop systems relying on EPA’s prior approval of dicamba use.

“We are very appreciative of EPA’s decision to let farmers utilize the products as intended through the 2024 growing season. We also thank ISA advocate-members for their continued advocacy and engagement on this issue.”

ISA, alongside the American Soybean Association and 25 other soybean state affiliates, in a letter to EPA last week asked the administration for clarity and certainty following a dicamba ruling in a federal district court in Arizona.

Read the EPA's Feb. 14 existing stocks order here.

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The Iowa Soybean Association is Driven To Deliver market demand, production research, information and insights and regulatory action benefiting Iowa's 37,000 soybean farmers and the industry. For more information, visit iasoybeans.com.

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