Monsanto, the St. Louis-based herbicide and seed company, filed a lawsuit Friday against the state Plant Board, alleging it violated state law and damaged the company in restricting farmers' access to Monsanto's dicamba-based herbicide the past two growing seasons.

 

In a lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court and assigned to Circuit Judge Mary McGowan, the company asked the judge to set aside a Plant Board regulation that prohibits the in-crop use of dicamba between April 15 and Sept. 15 of each growing season. The board, a division of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, is considering whether to prohibit the spraying of dicamba next year between April 16 and Oct. 31.

 

Either set of dates effectively removes dicamba -- such as Monsanto's Xtendimax and BASF's Engenia -- as a tool for farmers in their fight against weeds that have grown resistant to other herbicides. As those weeds evolved, Monsanto genetically engineered its soybeans to be tolerant of dicamba, a common herbicide on farms and around homes for nearly 50 years.

 

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