Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Rodd Moesel released the following statement regarding the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision vacating the registrations of three dicamba herbicides.
“The recent court decision to vacate registration of three dicamba products is a devastating blow to Oklahoma cotton and soybean farmers. Dicamba is a prominent herbicide relied on by farmers to control weeds, improve crop yields and conserve natural resources.
“Oklahoma farmers, who use these products carefully and responsibly, have been unfairly caught in the middle of a legal battle over approved and registered herbicides. The decision comes at a crucial time after many producers across the state have already purchased dicamba products and planted tens of thousands of acres of dicamba-resistant seed. The decision leaves farmers with agricultural inputs suddenly ruled unusable and crops in the field with no certainty of how they can be managed.
“We echo the calls of Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur and the American Farm Bureau Federation asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide farmers the critical tools needed to care for their crops. Agricultural producers must be able to use these dicamba products that were purchased or planted before the court issued its decision.”