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Pesticides

US EPA lifts some countywide bans on Enlist herbicides

Agency allows use in 134 counties previously subject to prohibitions

by Britt E. Erickson
April 1, 2022

Farm groups are cheering the US Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to reverse bans on Enlist herbicides in more than 100 counties across the US. The agency established the bans earlier this year in an effort to protect threatened and endangered species, including the American burying beetle.

Chemical structure of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid.

Enlist herbicides contain the active ingredient 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). The Duo version contains 2,4-D and glyphosate. The chemicals are used to control weeds on corn, cotton, and soybean crops that have been genetically modified to tolerate the herbicides. Both versions were subject to new mitigation measures, including some countywide bans, in January. The EPA announced March 29 that it is lifting many of those bans for the 2022 growing season, but it is keeping requirements on product labels to reduce spray drift and runoff.

Growers in affected counties raised concerns shortly after the EPA imposed the restrictions. Some farmers claimed they had already purchased seeds and planned for delivery of the herbicides. Supply-chain issues are making it hard to find alternatives, farm groups say.

“County-level bans had growers in these areas anxious and frustrated when the announcement came out in January—especially in this market where inputs are scarce and costs are sky high,” Brad Doyle, a soy farmer from Arkansas and president of the American Soybean Association, says in a statement. “We appreciate EPA hearing our concerns and working to quickly restore access in many counties where science and data support doing so,” he adds.

The EPA’s latest analysis uses updated species range maps created by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The EPA now says that use of Enlist herbicides with existing label requirements in 128 counties will not likely jeopardize the American burying beetle or other threatened and endangered species in those counties. The EPA also claims that updated species range maps for the Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake show it is no longer present in Minnesota, so the agency is reversing bans on Enlist Duo in 6 counties in that state. Those bans were intended to protect the threatened snake.

The EPA conducted the reanalysis at the request of Corteva Agriscience, maker of Enlist herbicides. The company is hoping it can convince regulators to remove remaining bans on Enlist products in dozens of other US counties. “Corteva Agriscience is continuing to conduct studies and provide additional data to EPA to support the removal of further geographic label restrictions where feasible,” Cynthia Ericson, vice president of US marketing for Corteva Agriscience, says in a statement.

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