DTN writer Emily Unglesbee reported today that, “If you’re feeling a little confused about the EPA’s new rules on dicamba for 2018, you’re not alone.

“Last week, EPA made some dicamba herbicides restricted use pesticides (RUP) and issued new labels for them, with tighter use restrictions. We’ve rounded up some of the most common questions posed to DTN in the past few days on these new rules.”

The DTN article proceeded to highlight several important issues on this topic in a “question and answer” format.

Here are some highlights from Ms. Unglesbee’s DTN article:

“– Will this affect all dicamba products, including those used in corn and pasture management?

“The EPA’s RUP classification only applies to any use of the three new formulations of dicamba labeled for (among other things) over-the-top use on Xtend soybeans and cotton. They are Monsanto’s XtendiMax, BASF’s Engenia and DuPont Pioneer’s FeXapan herbicides.

“Farmers who routinely use other, older dicamba formulations to control weeds in their cornfields or pastures will not see those products’ availability change under the new EPA rules.

“However, individual states are in the midst of deciding whether to adopt more restrictive rules that could affect other formulations of dicamba.”

Another question, “– How will this affect my access to the new dicamba herbicides?

“The RUP classification limits the sales of the new dicamba herbicides to retailers and applicators who have gone through a certification and licensing process to sell or purchase restricted use pesticides.

“That means all applicators, either private or commercial, must undergo their state’s RUP training requirements before the 2018 spraying season.”

The DTN article also noted this important question, “– Do the new labels address all the causes of the 2017 dicamba injury crisis?

“In a word, no.

“‘They’re primarily trying to tighten up issues related to physical drift and secondarily tying up issues related to temperature inversions, but I don’t think they’ve addressed the volatility issue at all,’ said [Purdue University weed scientist Bill Johnson.]”

“Manufacturers of the new dicamba herbicides have strongly disputed that volatility played a role in the dicamba injury seen in more than 3 million acres of soybeans (and untold acres of non-agricultural plants) in 2017.”

The DTN article added: “You can find the new label for XtendiMax here: http://bit.ly/… and Engenia here: http://bit.ly/….”

Dar Danielson reported yesterday at Radio Iowa Online that, “New legislation moving through Congress is designed to expand markets for farmers in Iowa and nationwide. It’s called the Local Food and Regional Market Supply or FARMS Act.

“Anna Johnson, a policy program associate with the Center for Rural Affairs, says the bill aims to help producers sell locally. ‘This bill does three things to help local foods,’ Johnson says. ‘The first thing is, it helps farmers reach new markets, and then it increases access to healthy foods for low-income populations, and the third thing is that it strengthens the infrastructure for local foods to reach market.’

“The bill also proposes giving school districts more leeway in buying from local sources. She explains more about how it would boost access to healthy foods for people in low-income brackets.”

The Radio Iowa article stated that, “Johnson says parts of the bill could be included in the 2018 Farm Bill that’s being crafted now. She says recent years have been tight for agriculture and this would help.”

“Johnson says the bill also would expand loan and grant opportunities through the Farm Service Agency, which could help to increase meat and dairy processing capabilities for small producers. The Center for Rural Affairs is based in Lyons, Nebraska.”

Juliet Eilperin reported yesterday at The Washington Post Online that, “Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a directive on Monday to limit the extent to which the EPA can reach legal agreements with groups suing to force it to take regulatory action.

“Ending the practice known as ‘sue and settle‘ has long been a top priority for conservatives and business groups. In recent years, especially under the Obama administration, the EPA and other agencies resolved litigation over delays in issuing rules by agreeing to specific timelines to act and reimbursing plaintiffs’ attorney fees.

“In a news briefing, Pruitt said he was taking action to ensure that consent decrees ‘are not used in an abusive fashion to subvert due process‘ and to exclude the public from weighing in.”

The Post article noted that, “The directive will provide for greater disclosure of potential settlements by directing the EPA to publish any notice of intent to sue within 15 days of receiving it, contacting states and any other entities potentially affected by such suits, and posting any proposed or modified consent decrees and settlements for a 30-day public comment period.

“It represents the latest example of how Pruitt is changing federal policy he once challenged in court. In 2014, while serving as Oklahoma’s attorney general, he joined forces with the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance to file suit against the Interior Department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the grounds that they had used a ‘sue and settle’ strategy with an environmental group to list several imperiled species.”

Yesterday’s article added that, “The Sierra Club and government watchdog groups question whether Pruitt’s directive — inspired by a memorandum that Attorney General Edwin Meese issued in 1986 and that in 1991 was codified in the Code of Regulations — will have much direct impact. The Clean Air Act and other environmental laws provide citizens and outside groups broad latitude to sue the EPA when it is failing to meet statutory deadlines, and the judge handling such cases typically determines the amount of legal fees the government must pay as part of any consent decree.”

Bryce Gray reported on the front page of Sunday’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch that, “The new dicamba system — fully available for the first time this growing season — is hailed by many farmers in the Bootheel as a critical tool that has helped facilitate record yields and some of the ‘cleanest’ or least weed-afflicted crops since Roundup-resistant seed varieties first came out in the 1990s.

“But others, such as [farmer Chris Crosskno], have not shared the abundance enabled by the technology, and have perhaps even been hurt by it.

“Though an effective weedkiller, dicamba is a notoriously volatile chemical, meaning it is prone to turning into vapor that can drift off target. Soybeans are particularly sensitive to dicamba damage, but many types of nontolerant plants — including trees and garden vegetables — can also be susceptible to injury.”

Mr. Gray noted that, “With the harvest ongoing, the impact that damage could have on Crosskno’s yields is still coming into focus. But he worries that, like some of his neighbors are reporting, he could lose 8 to 10 bushels of his LibertyLink soybeans per acre — a loss that would amount to $180,000 or so.

“To avoid future losses, Crosskno says he’ll have no choice but to switch, begrudgingly, to Monsanto’s dicamba-tolerant seed next year, sparing himself the stress he has endured this season.

“‘You either get on board or get hurt,’ he said. ‘I absolutely hate it. I despise the idea that Monsanto can dictate what we have to use, have to plant.'”

Yesterday’s article added that, “Complaints of dicamba-related crop damage have mushroomed into a national epidemic this year, surfacing in 21 states and launching thousands of case-by-case investigations by state departments of agriculture. The Mid-South has been hit especially hard, with northeast Arkansas and the Bootheel standing out as areas with the nation’s highest concentration of damage reports.”

And, Mr. Gray noted that, “Many Bootheel growers, though, want to give dicamba technology time to work out any kinks, echoing the industry’s calls for better education about application methods aimed to minimize volatility and physical drift.

“‘We need more certification and need more education,’ [farmer Jason Bean] said. ‘The last thing we want to do is hurt anybody.’

“‘This is a tool in our arsenal that we have to have,’ added Terry Weaver, a grower near Holcomb pleased with his switch to Xtend seed this year. ‘We grow by our mistakes and learn by them. And that’s what we had to do this year.’

“But Weaver and others know that it’s just a matter of time before weeds develop resistance to dicamba, and the cycle repeats itself.”

Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker reported late last week that, “The Trump administration has reached a deal with three major agribusiness companies for new voluntary labeling requirements for a controversial herbicide blamed for damaging crops.

“The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday its agreement with Monsanto, BASF and DuPont regarding the application of dicamba, which is used to control weeds in fields of genetically modified cotton and soybeans. Farmers who don’t buy the special resistant seeds sold by the herbicide makers have complained that dicamba sprayed on neighboring properties drifts over and harms their crops, resulting in temporary bans issued last summer by state officials in Arkansas and Missouri.

“‘EPA carefully reviewed the available information and developed tangible changes to be implemented during the 2018 growing season,’ the agency said in a media release. ‘This is an example of cooperative federalism that leads to workable national-level solutions.'”

The AP article noted that, “Under the deal, dicamba products will be labeled as ‘restricted use‘ beginning with the 2018 growing season, requiring additional training and certifications for workers applying the product to crops. The new rules will also limit when and how the herbicide can be sprayed, such as time of day and when maximum winds are blowing below 10 mph. Farmers will be required to maintain specific records showing their compliance with the new restrictions.”

Mr. Biesecker added that, “The EPA said the labels could be revised again in two years, when the current federal registration allowing dicamba to be sold in the United States is up for review.

Anthony Shevlin and Natalia Drozdiak reported today at The Wall Street Journal Online that, “Bayer AG on Friday said it has agreed to sell parts of its crop-science business to rival BASF SE for €5.9 billion ($6.98 billion), a bid to assuage regulators as the German chemical conglomerate seeks approval for its $57 billion acquisition of U.S. seed maker Monsanto Co.

“Bayer said it would use the net proceeds from the transaction to partially refinance the purchase of Monsanto, a deal struck last year that is set to create an industrial powerhouse and tilt the German company heavily toward agriculture in a long-range bet on high-tech crops.

An update on Friday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) stated that, “[USDA] announced today that it will process many pending eligible offers for land enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), and it will temporarily suspend accepting most new offers until later in the 2018 fiscal year.

“‘All current, eligible CRP continuous enrollment offers made through Sept. 30, 2017 – except for those made under the Pollinator Habitat Initiative (CP42) – will be approved,’ said Steven J. Peterson, Acting Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator. ‘Additionally, we are temporarily suspending acceptance of most offers going forward to provide time to review CRP allocation levels, and to avoid exceeding the statutory cap of 24 million acres.’

“The CRP acreage cap is a provision of the 2014 Farm Bill. Current enrollment is about 23.5 million acres nationwide. USDA is accepting all pending continuous enrollment offers that were made beginning on May 4, 2017, and extending through Sept. 30, 2017, except Pollinator Habitat Initiative offers. Pollinator acreage offers are being declined because the program has met its acreage enrollment goal. Effective immediately, USDA is suspending acceptance of all new CRP continuous offers received or submitted after Sept. 30, 2017. The suspension will continue until later in the 2018 fiscal year.”

The FSA update added that, “Peterson said, however, that USDA will continue to accept eligible offers for state-specific Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) and CRP Grasslands enrollment. Offers received on or after Oct. 1, 2017, are subject to fiscal year 2018 rental rates which have been adjusted to reflect current market conditions and were established after careful review of the latest USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service cash rent data.”

Reuters writer P.J. Huffstutter reported yesterday that, “Fitch Ratings on Wednesday became the second major ratings agency to put Syngenta AG on notice for a potential downgrade, over uncertainties surrounding the Swiss-based company’s genetically modified corn lawsuit liabilities.

“Fitch said it has put the world’s largest crop chemical company on ‘rating watch negative,’ flagging concerns about how Syngenta will pay to settle the lawsuits and whether the Chinese government will support litigation liabilities. Fitch rates Syngenta at BBB, two notches above junk.

“‘While the amount of the settlement is currently unknown, it may threaten the pace of the company’s future deleveraging absent a financial intervention by ChemChina,’ Fitch said in a statement.”

The Reuters article added that, “Syngenta officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

“The company’s low investment-grade rating, linked in part to its expected ability to reduce leverage as well as ChemChina providing financial support, is not consistent with its financial profile, Fitch said. Syngenta has agreed to be acquired by ChemChina for $44 billion.”