“It’s going to be difficult for (Enlist) to gain market penetration partially because of how well entrenched dicamba already is,” Hager said. In two years, dicamba went from being sprayed on zero acres of soybeans to more than 40 million acres.Īaron Hager, an associate professor at the University of Illinois, said many farmers have adopted Monsanto’s Xtend soybeans as a protection measure against drift from dicamba. The extent to which 2,4-d-resistant soybeans will be planted is unknown, largely because of the widespread market penetration by dicamba-resistant soybeans.Ĭompany officials estimated the product will have at least 10 percent market share by 2020, which would be about 9 million acres in the United States. More than 90 percent of soybeans grown in the United States are genetically modified, but there are only three major systems that are commonly used to combat glyphosate-resistant weeds: Monsanto’s Xtend, DowDupont’s Enlist and BASF’s LibertyLink soybeans, which are resistant to glufosinate, another herbicide.Įnlist soybeans can also be sprayed with glufosinate. EPA approved new versions of the weed killer for use on soybeans in November 2016. Those soybeans are genetically engineered to withstand being sprayed by dicamba, a volatile herbicide that has drifted off target and damaged millions of acres of non-resistant soybeans, other crops and natural areas since the U.S. The Enlist approval gives farmers looking to manage glyphosate-resistant weeds a new tool at a time when the dominant soybean system - Monsanto’s Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans - has caused widespread issues in the Midwest and South. “This is just going to absolutely be a disaster,” said Nathan Donley, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit organization that works to protect endangered species. In 2016, the USDA estimated that farmers used 44.4 million pounds of 2,4-D on crops across the U.S. Department of Agriculture has projected that increased 2,4-D use due to the Enlist system would likely increase the amount of the weed killer sprayed between 200 and 600 percent by 2020.Īlready, it’s one of the most commonly used herbicides in the United States, used in conventional agriculture including corn and is one of the most commonly used home and garden herbicides. Trade tensions with China and higher import taxes on U.S. The United States exports $14 billion worth of soybeans to China, or one of every four rows of soybeans, annually, according to the American Soybean Association, an organization of soybean producers. In response, agribusiness companies, like Dow and Monsanto, have introduced new genetically modified varieties of soybeans that can be sprayed with other herbicides that kill glyphosate-resistant weeds. Over the past two decades, a growing number of weeds have become resistant to glyphosate, the most popular weed killer in the world, sold as Monsanto’s Roundup. Studies have also linked 2,4-D to endocrine disruption, disturbing estrogen, androgen and thyroid hormones. The International Agency for Research on Cancer named the weed killer a possible human carcinogen. used Agent Orange during the Vietnam War to eliminate crops and forest covers for enemy troops. The herbicide - 2,4-D - was one of the active ingredients in Agent Orange and has been shown to drift miles away from where it’s applied. “This announcement clears the way for even more soybean growers to experience the high-yielding elite genetics and exceptional weed control offered by the Enlist E3™ soybean system.”ĭowAgrosciences declined to comment for this story. soybean growers,” said Joseph Merschman, president of MS Technologies in a February press release. In January, China approved imports of a new genetically modified soybean variety - Enlist E3 soybeans jointly made by Corteva Agriscience, a division of DowDupont and seed company MS Technologies - that can withstand the herbicide 2,4-D. A volatile weed killer linked to cancer and endocrine issues will likely be sprayed on millions more acres of soybeans and cotton across the Midwest and South starting this year.
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