Third Time the Charm for Dicamba?
If you are looking for a poster child of a crop protection product living a regulatory nightmare, dicamba would come to mind. Since cropping systems featuring this long-in-use herbicide first appeared almost 10 years ago, legal and regulatory challenges have consistently dogged these products.
Because of the nature of dicamba, there were thousands of complaints and damage claims by growers and consumers during the 2017 growing season. This led to more strict application restrictions and intensive training programs implemented during the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons.
Then, the courts stepped in. In mid-2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated dicamba’s registration. By October 2020, EPA was successful in reauthorizing dicamba for use. Still, this registration/no registration back-and-forth convinced at least one crop protection products supplier, Corteva, to discontinue production of its dicamba product, FeXapan.
For a few years, dicamba cropping systems continued to be employed by U.S. growers to combat herbicide-resistant weeds and keep yields high. Then, in February 2024, a federal court in Arizona vacated EPA’s 2020 registration for dicamba products a second time. In reviewing a court case filed against the herbicide by special interest groups, the court found that EPA was in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act when it originally reauthorized dicamba’s use.
“The court . . . found the seriousness of the agency error, including in part its failure to assess the risks and costs for non-users of over-the-top (OTT) dicamba compelled vacatur,” wrote the court in
its ruling.
Through the efforts of industry trade groups, the agricultural industry was permitted to use dicamba products it had already purchased for the 2024 growing season. However, use in 2025 was not allowed until reauthorization from EPA had been finalized.
This finally occurred this past February, almost two years to the day after the second dicamba vacatur. EPA has now reauthorized dicamba OTT application for the 2026 growing season.
Naturally, trade groups hailed the news.
“[We] applaud EPA’s recent decision that preserves the safe use of OTT dicamba while maintaining workable, label required mitigation measures for commercial applicators,” says Daren Coppock, President and CEO at the Agricultural Retailers Association. “OTT dicamba remains an essential tool for protecting yields and supporting soil health and environmental sustainability in cotton and soybean production.”
However, only a few short weeks after it was reauthorized, a coalition of groups sued the EPA over dicamba’s approval, seeking a third court order to prevent the herbicide from being used. This petition was filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
I sincerely hope that the third time being reauthorized for use will indeed be the charm for dicamba, but if this is struck down by the courts, it may spell the end.
As Ed Messina, Director of EPA’s Office of Pesticides Programs, observed recently: “If dicamba goes away again, I don’t think it’s ever coming back.”
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