Monsanto and BASF Dicamba Herbicide Misrepresentations Class Action

Monsanto and BASF developed a crop system that combines the herbicide dicamba with dicamba-resistant crops. Unfortunately, as in this class action, other nearby growers allege that dicamba does not stay where it is sprayed but drifts over to destroy their non-resistant crops. 

The Nationwide Soybean Producers Class is all persons and entities in the US who, in 2017 (and also in Missouri in 2016) were producers of soybeans not resistant to dicamba which showed physical symptoms of dicamba injury (leaf cupping with or without further symptoms of strapping, leaf elongation, stunting, or stem twisting). There is also an Illinois Soybean Producers Class.

Monsanto develops biotechnology, chemicals, and other agricultural products. Together with the German company BASF SE and its American agent BASF Corporation, Monsanto licenses a genetically-engineered trait in soybean and cotton seeds that is resistant to dicamba. 

Initially, herbicides were applied to fields before the crops were planted. The invention of crops that are resistant to dicamba allows growers to spray their fields even after the crops have begun to grow. 

Dicamba-resistant crops now include soybeans, cotton, canola, alfalfa, and sugar beets. However, weeds evolve and become “superweeds,” resistant to herbicides. The complaint claims this sets in motion a dangerous cycle, where growers must use greater amounts of herbicides or more deadly herbicides.

The crop system at issue here is the second generation of dicamba-resistant crops, known as Roundup Ready 2, which includes new herbicides. 

Unfortunately, the complaint claims that dicamba has a tendency to spray drift, which can be affected by wind speed and direction, droplet size, and even temperature inversions, which can cause it to move long distances. It is also very volatile, the complaint says, “meaning that it has a high propensity to evaporate, or vaporize, from soil and/or plant surfaces and move as small particles through the air to deposit onto non-target plants and crops.” Dicamba is deadly to non-resistant soybeans, vegetables, fruit trees, and other plants. 

Monsanto’s XtendiMax and BASF’s Engenia were both supposed to be low-volatility dicamba formulations. But the complaint claims that volatility is still a problem.

In 2017, the complaint says, at least 25 million acres of the dicamba-resistant soybeans and cotton were planted, and the damage to surrounding non-resistant crops was enormous. “Damage observed in 2017 included entire hundred-acre fields of soybeans…” the complaint says. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims that over 3.6 million acres of soybeans were damaged by dicamba—and that’s not counting damage to other kinds of crops. 

In 2017, the EPA reclassified dicamba as a restricted-use herbicide and announced new rules for its application. The complaint claims, “This action confirms that the prior labels and instructions were inadequate.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Agriculture, Damage to crops