NCGA Encourages Court to Respect EPA Decision

NCGA joined a coalition of national grower trade associations today in urging the Ninth Circuit to reject an NGO call to invalidate EPA’s dicamba existing stocks order for three dicamba products whose registrations were immediately vacated by the court earlier this month.

NCGA joined with American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, National Cotton Council of America, National Association of Wheat Growers and National Sorghum Producers in filing an amicus brief supporting EPA’s position against the NGO petition. The brief seeks to invalidate EPA’s dicamba existing stocks order and hold the agency in contempt, citing the catastrophic consequences that could result if the NGO’s request is granted.

The grower coalition’s brief makes a case for farmers caught in a highly frustrating and costly situation amid prime planting season and the narrow weed-control window. Many farmers made management decisions and product investments months ago in good faith.

While the decision of the Ninth Circuit does not directly impact corn production, it does impact corn growers, many of whom also raise soy or cotton on their farms. Furthermore, the long-term implications of the judicial overreach exercised in this decision are troubling. This ruling, and the subsequent legal exploits exercised by the plaintiffs, calls into question the current and future scientific authority of the EPA over pesticide registrations, as well as farmer access to them.

Farmers rely on EPA’s science-based process for developing appropriate and safe guidelines for the use of crop protection products. The fact that courts may now decide how farmers use pesticides thoroughly studied and registered by EPA harms growers now and in the future.

NCGA will continue to advocate for farmer access to tools documented by the EPA to be safe and effective for managing the pests faced by America’s farmers each growing season.