UPDATED — BASF and Corteva Agriscience have filed emergency motions to intervene following the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to vacate federal registrations of three dicamba-based herbicides.
If approved, the motions would allow the companies to become parties in the suit. Generally, intervenors must have an interest in the subject matter of the original suit.
The circuit court’s June 3 decision brought BASF and Corteva’s products into the case for the first time. Originally, the case just involved XtendiMax herbicide from Bayer. Included in the court ruling were XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology, Engenia from BASF and FeXapan Plus Vapor Grip from Corteva.
BASF made the request to intervene after careful consideration of the sudden and severe financial impact vacating the registration has had on farmers during this critical application time, when farmers now have less than a month to protect millions of acres from resistant weeds, according to the company’s press release.
“The Ninth Circuit’s decision has caused immediate chaos among the agricultural community and threatens the livelihood of countless U.S. farmers,” it wrote in the release. “Seeking to make matters worse, the challengers have now asked the Ninth Circuit to undo the EPA’s order, which implemented the panel’s decision and addressed the uncertainty it caused. BASF must act to protect its interests and those of its customers.”
Corteva issued a similar statement: “We believe dicamba is an effective weed management tool for farmers when used according to the label. We also seek to preserve the role of the U.S. EPA to administer the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act, including granting or canceling crop protection product registrations, for the benefit of agriculture and society.”