DTN writer Todd Neeley reported yesterday that, “Attorneys representing farmers from across the country who filed multiple lawsuits alleging off-target dicamba damage to their crops will try to convince a federal panel of judges next week that the cases should be heard in a single court.
“The seven-judge U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is slated to hear oral arguments on Jan. 25 in Miami, Florida, on a motion by attorneys representing farmers in Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas and Missouri to move all the cases to one court.
“The question at hand will be what venue would best serve the interests of all the litigants.”
The DTN article noted that, “An attorney representing some of those farmers in Illinois told DTN in an interview that consolidating the cases in one court would best serve all farmers alleging crop damages.
“Thousands of complaints have been made in at least 24 states by farmers alleging crop injury from dicamba-based products manufactured by Monsanto, BASF and DuPont. Lawsuits have sought the stoppage of sales of dicamba products under the names Xtend, Engenia, Fexapan and Xtendimax, and have also sought damages for crop losses.”
Mr. Neeley added that, “The federal multidistrict court is expected to consider moving the cases to one of four courts: the Southern District of Illinois, the Eastern District of Missouri, the Eastern District of Arkansas or the District of Kansas.”
