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U.S. EPA proposes re-registration of three OTT dicamba products

There are mixed reviews as the U.S. EPA takes comments on a proposed re-registration of three over-the-top dicamba products in dicamba-tolerant cotton and soybeans.

Last year, Bayer submitted a label to the U.S. EPA for approval on the low-volatility herbicide formerly known as XtendiMax. A re-registration for BASF’s Engenia and a new registration for Syngenta’s Tavium were also submitted.

Daren Coppock with the Ag Retailers Association says it’s nice to see the agency taking a science-based approach to product regulation.

“It’s something we’ve relied on in agriculture for decades and much of the rest of the world has taken as a pattern for their regulatory system. Unfortuantely, not everyone has, but a lot have. But we’re happy to see this tool returned to the toolbox for people to use in a responsible way.”

The agency says it hasn’t identified any human health or dietary risks of concern for OTT dicamba, but herbicide does pose a risk to certain plants.

Over-the-top dicamba has been known to drift onto other crops and the EPA has proposed additional mitigations to minimize the impacts, including temperature dependent application restrictions.

Coppock says that will help manage volatility and “we need to talk to the people on the ground using the product to see how effective those mitigations are and how they might be improved. Once we have that information, we can make some intelligent comments back to the agency.”

The EPA says after considering public comments, the agency will determine if the herbicides meet registration standards. If the registration is granted, the EPA will finalize the biological evaluation and initiate the Endangered Species Act consultation. Coppock says he’s optimistic the EPA will issue a decision soon this fall.

But even if registration is granted “there’s no way to innoculate ourselves against litigation, unfortunately.”

Previously, two different federal courts vacated the registrations of OTT dicamba products, due to dicamba drift and environmental concerns.

The lawsuits were filed by groups like the National Family Farm Coalition and the Center for Biological Diversity. 

In a statement, the Center for Biological Diversity says Trump’s EPA is hitting new heights of absurdity planning to greenlight a pesticide that caused the most extensive drift damage in U.S. ag history and has been thrown out twice by the courts. And the Center for Food Safety says the agency must reverse course and withdraw its plans.

EPA’s 30-day public comment period on OTT dicamba closes August 22.