US: Dicamba lawsuit will not impact 2021 XtendiMax use, say Bayer officials

By Gil Gullickson

Four groups filed a lawsuit in a federal appeals court on December 21 stating that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failed to ensure that dicamba can be used safely when it issued a five-year approval last October. 

EPA’s October 27 decision covered dicamba formulations that include Bayer’s XtendiMax, BASF’s Engenia, and Syngenta’s Tavium. 

“Our career staff reviewed significant amounts of new scientific information and carefully considered input from stakeholder groups,” said Andrew Wheeler, EPA administrator, at the time of the decision. He added the EPA determined the registration actions will address the concerns outlined in the June (2020) Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision. 

However, the four plaintiffs – the Center for Food Safety, Center for Biological Diversity, Pesticide Action Network North America, and the National Family Farm Coalition – disagree with that assessment.

Bayer’s response

Bayer, which manufactures XtendiMax With VaporGrip Technology that is applied to dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton, has issued this statement in response to the lawsuit. 

We are reviewing the filing, which has no immediate impact on our ability to bring XtendiMax to growers this season or on growers’ ability to use XtendiMax this season. We look forward to bringing XtendiMax to growers and helping them have a successful 2021 season and beyond. Growers have been clear how vitally important this tool is for their weed-management programs.

On October 27, 2020, the EPA announced the new five-year registration and product label for XtendiMax.

This new registration decision is based on a significant amount of additional data and learnings from recent seasons, and the new product label includes new measures to help growers use the product even more successfully going forward. We believe this new registration and product label effectively address the concerns raised by the court earlier this year. 

Bayer stands fully behind our Xtend seeds and our XtendiMax herbicide. We are proud of our role in bringing innovations like these forward to help growers safely and successfully grow healthy crops. We take our stewardship responsibility very seriously, and we will continue to offer trainings, resources, and other support to help ensure growers can use this important crop protection tool even more successfully going forward.