Monsanto loses bid to stop Arkansas dicamba ban - Entrepreneur Generations

"An Arkansas judge on Friday dismissed a Monsanto Co. lawsuit aiming to stop Arkansas from blocking the use of a controversial farm chemical the company makes, dealing a blow to its attempts to increase sales of genetically engineered seeds," Tom Polansek reports for Reuters.

University of Missouri map; click on the image to enlarge it.

After receiving nearly 1,000 complaints about dicamba damage to crops, on July 7 the Arkansas Legislative Council approved the state Plant Board's proposal to ban applications of dicamba from April 16 through Oct. 31. Dicamba tends to vaporize after being sprayed on crops and drifts into other fields; the herbicide damaged than 3.6 million acres of soybeans in the U.S. in 2017.

Monsanto's suit alleges that the ban hurt the company's ability to sell dicamba-tolerant seed in Arkansas and caused "irreparable harm" to the company, since the ban did not extend to products by other companies such as DuPont Inc. or BASF. But Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Chris Piazza ruled against Monsanto, citing a recent state Supreme Court decision that the state cannot be made a defendant in court.

Meanwhile, Monsanto is on the defensive from several dicamba-related lawsuits: one alleging that the company essentially forced farmers to buy its dicamba-resistant seeds, and several that allege crop damage because of dicamba.

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2ECIqzc Monsanto loses bid to stop Arkansas dicamba ban - Entrepreneur Generations

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