Secretary Naig Requests Guidance from EPA on Ninth Circuit Court’s Dicamba Ruling

DES MOINES, Iowa (June 5, 2020) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig has sent a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler requesting guidance on what the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s decision to vacate the EPA’s dicamba product registration means for Iowa farmers.

In the letter Secretary Naig wrote, “We are requesting that the EPA provides guidance about what this ruling means for producers in Iowa, and presents options to allow retailers and farmers to apply existing stocks during the 2020 growing season. This ruling is creating uncertainty at a time when farmers are already heading into the fields to treat emerging crops and it leaves them without effective weed management tools.”

Read the entire letter here.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has not issued a stop sale order and will continue operating under the current pesticide program until it receives guidance from the EPA. The Department does not anticipate taking enforcement action against those who otherwise appropriately purchase, sell, or use these products in the interim. This enforcement decision may change immediately based on further guidance from the EPA.

Dicamba is an important weed management tool that Iowa farmers use to protect their crops. Water hemp, a weed commonly found in Iowa fields, has developed a resistance to many registered herbicide products, leaving producers with limited options for the 2020 growing season.