The state Plant Board had no reason to prevent farmers from planting a new herbicide-resistant strain of soybean this year, even though the herbicide is damaging neighboring crops, Terry Walker, director of the board, told lawmakers Thursday.
Walker answered questions Thursday before a meeting of the House and Senate committees on agriculture, forestry and economic development.
Arkansas farmers have been planting new soybeans that are resistant to the weed-killer dicamba as they battle weeds that have become resistant to other herbicides such as glyphosate -- better known as Monsanto's Roundup. While the seeds are federally approved, new versions of the dicamba herbicide that are less likely to drift into other fields are not.
The situation has left farmers with a dilemma. Those with the new dicamba-resistant soybeans can spray their fields -- endangering their neighbors' crops that aren't dicamba resistant -- or allow the weeds to take over and lose tens of thousands of dollars.
Many have chosen to spray old dicamba formulations.
"We have been asked numerous times why did we allow the seed to be sold since the chemical component had not been approved for application," Walker said. "Simply stated, we had no basis to prevent that seed from being sold. It had been approved at the USDA level and was legal to sell."
Likewise, dicamba has been in production for more than 50 years.
"The old formulations are legal," Walker said. "There was no reason not to sell it."
Over time, plants such as pigweed have adapted to survive Roundup herbicide and other popular products.
"I actually had to tell a guy for the first time in 15 years, I said, 'Man, you just can't grow Roundup Ready soybeans in this field anymore,'" said Bob Scott, a weed scientist with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. "Our recommendation for him in 2016 was to grow corn, possibly sorghum. In those crops you can use other families of chemistry that you can't use in soybeans -- or grow LibertyLink."
The state is relying on LibertyLink cotton and soybeans -- which are resistant to glufosinate, better known as Bayer's Liberty herbicide, Scott said.
"On this particular farm in Gregory, I would say we're one herbicide away from -- and that's glufosinate -- from not being able to grow soybeans in that field in the state of Arkansas, and that definitely concerns me as a weed scientist," he said.
If farmers use dicamba-tolerant seeds -- such as Monsanto's Roundup Ready 2 Xtend -- they face another problem: While the seeds have been approved for planting in the United States, the product from those seeds has not been accepted by the European Union.
Ben Noble of Noble Strategies -- who represented Monsanto at the meeting -- said foreign governments are inching closer to acceptance.
"I don't think they're waiting until we get to harvest time to attempt to try to come up with some type of solution," Noble said.
The European Union accepts dicamba- and glyphosate-resistant crops, so accepting Monsanto's Roundup Ready 2 Xtend -- which is also resistant to both -- shouldn't be a big jump, he said.
Business on 07/22/2016