Booker Urges EPA to Reject Dicamba Reapproval Amid Ongoing Damage to Farming Communities

Press Release

“Since their original two-year experimental approval in 2016, dicamba herbicides sprayed ‘over the-top’ (OTT) of soybeans and cotton genetically engineered to withstand them have drifted rampantly, damaging many millions of acres of sensitive crops. Dicamba is notorious for its volatility, which enables it to drift hundreds of yards to over a mile, causing fencerow-to- fencerow crop injury.

“The same companies that manufacture dicamba have again applied for re-registration this year. Nearly every year since 2016, EPA has made multiple attempts to mitigate this damage through imposing progressively tighter usage restrictions, but these efforts have failed. It is now abundantly clear that dicamba cannot be ‘fixed.’ A few tweaks on the proposed labels will not solve the drift threats these products pose any more than prior restrictions did.

“For all these reasons and to avoid irreparable harm to U.S. farmers, we therefore urge EPA to reject the 2024 pending applications and not again make the mistake of approving dicamba products for this use."

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