All articles tagged Dicamba

On Today's 21st: The controversial herbicide dicamba has been blamed for millions of acres of crop damage. Now the herbicide is at the center of a civil lawsuit in Missouri. We got the latest. 

Since 2017, farmers have sprayed an increasing amount of the weed killer, called dicamba, on soybean and cotton crops genetically engineered by agribusiness company Monsanto to withstand being sprayed by the herbicide. But each year, dicamba has drifted off-target and damaged millions of acres of non-resistant soybeans, specialty crops and other plants.

A volatile weed killer linked to cancer and endocrine issues will likely be sprayed on millions more acres of soybeans and cotton across the Midwest and South starting this year.

Row-crop farmers in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Arkansas overwhelmingly now use dicamba, realizing it’s their best chance to protect against damage. But specialty-crop farmers are still at risk, and feel they are running out of options on how to fight back.

Dicamba, the controversial herbicide used on soybeans and cotton, is responsible for thousands of acres of damaged crops in recent years. Experts say that despite new federal rules that go into effect in 2019, the drift will continue but the victims will be different.