In June, as Northern Plains farmers began to apply post-emergence herbicides, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the EPA to terminate registrations for Bayer’s XtendiMax, BASF’s Engenia and Corteva Agriscience’s FeXapan herbicides immediately. “All of a sudden to have the product pulled out from under us the day we wanted to apply it caused a lot of frustration,” said Joe Ikley, weed specialist, NDSU Extension. In the weeks following, the EPA issued a final cancellation order on the three dicamba herbicides. Farmers could use what they had in stock. In October, the EPA said it would re-register the over-the-top use of XtendiMax and Engenia dicamba herbicides and extend Tavium Plus VaporGrip Technology through 2025. FeXapan was not re-registered at that time, but is in the pipeline. As 2020 ends, the re-registration is being challenged by farm groups and environmental groups. There’s still uncertainty on dicamba use going into 2021. Listen to the story.
