An Arkansas regulatory panel voted Wednesday [Nov. 8] to ban the use of an herbicide for part of next year after the weed killer drew complaints from farmers across several states who say it has drifted onto their crops and caused widespread damage.
The Arkansas Plant Board on Wednesday [Nov. 8] approved prohibiting the use of dicamba in the state between April 16 and Oct. 31. The ban includes several exemptions, including for pastures and home use, and now heads to a legislative panel.
Dicamba has been around for decades, but problems arose over the past couple of years as farmers began to use it on soybean and cotton fields where they planted new seeds engineered to be resistant to the herbicide. … The state earlier this year approved a temporary ban on the herbicide’s sale and use, and has received nearly 1,000 complaints this year about dicamba.
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Monsanto, which last month sued Arkansas for previously banning its dicamba weed killer, criticized the panel for the latest restriction and said the move will deprive farmers of a needed tool to protect crops. The company left open the possibility of amending its lawsuit or filing another challenge over the new ban.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Arkansas Panel Backs Ban of Controversial Herbicide Dicamba
