Our attorneys are currently investigating claims that the herbicide dicamba is responsible for destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of crops and affecting the livelihoods of many farmers. While farmers who spray dicamba have plants that are genetically modified to be resistant to the herbicide, dicamba is highly volatile and can drift onto non-resistant plants and damage them.
If your crops were damaged this year, and you think dicamba was the cause, contact us today. You may be eligible to file a lawsuit against the manufacturers of dicamba.
What is Dicamba?
Dicamba is a powerful herbicide that was previously not permitted for direct application on crops because of its toxicity and tendency to drift off-site and potentially harm other farms’ crops.
However, the herbicide of choice in the U.S. — Roundup — has been sprayed to the point that some weeds are now resistant to glyphosate, its primary chemical. As a result, the agricultural industry has turned to dicamba to kill these new “super weeds,” which now affect more than two-thirds of U.S. farm acres (61 million acres).
What are the Alleged Problems With Dicamba?
To ensure dicamba could be used safely, genetically modified seeds that were resistant to dicamba were developed along with a new formula for the chemical that would make it less volatile and less prone to drifting. This way, dicamba could be sprayed safely on crops that were resistant to it and avoid the problem with the older version of the chemical, which caused it to drift onto non-resistant plants.
However, the dicamba-resistant seeds were approved for use during the 2016 growing season, before the new, less volatile version of dicamba spray also became available. And even though farmers were told not to spray the seeds with dicamba until the new version was released, there were many instances of illegal spraying of the older, volatile version.
As a result, the older version drifted onto crops not genetically modified to resist dicamba and damaged over 200,000 acres.
Complaints About Dicamba Crop Damage
In 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved new formulations of dicamba for use in the 2017 growing season. These formulations, Engenia (manufactured by BASF), XtendiMax (manufactured by Monsanto) and FeXapan (manufactured by Dupont) were supposed to be designed to reduce potential drift and volatility. Yet, hundreds of farmers have already complained about their crops being damaged by dicamba in 2017; and it’s still early in the growing season.
In Arkansas, there have been at least 242 complaints from 19 counties of alleged dicamba misuse as of June 23 made to the Arkansas Plant Board, according to the Arkansas Agriculture Department. In response, the Arkansas Plant Board voted to ban the sale and use of dicamba throughout the state, a move that now awaits approval by the state legislature and the Governor. There have also been reports of dicamba drift damaging crops in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.
If you believe your crops were damaged by dicamba in 2017, you may be eligible for compensation. Contact us today to find out if you are able to hold someone responsible for the damage dicamba allegedly caused to your crops.
What Does Dicamba Damage Look Like?
Dicamba is a more powerful herbicide than the glyphosate-based herbicides used before “super weeds” developed. Crops not genetically modified to resist dicamba are extremely vulnerable to damage from the herbicide. Signs that your plants have been damaged by dicamba, according to the Purdue Plant & Pest Diagnostic Laboratory, include:
- Twisted and crinkled leaves
- Downward cupping on leaves
- Narrow, strap-like leaves on the youngest growth
- Above-ground roots on the stems of certain annual flowers
What Can I Do if My Crops Were Damaged by Dicamba?
In 2016, one million acres of farmland were planted with dicamba-resistant crops, which resulted in 200,000 acres of damaged crops. It is expected that 15 to 18 million acres of farmland will be planted with dicamba-resistant crops this year, meaning the damage to farmers could be significant if the new version of dicamba is not less volatile.
If you think that your crops were damaged by dicamba this year, we want to hear from you. You could be eligible to file a lawsuit and recover compensation for your losses.