Farmer murders farmer in dispute over dicamba herbicide drift

[womanofthehills]

(Dicamba killing neighboring farmers crops)

When serious drift issues began popping up around the Mid-South in late June, dicamba immediately became the prime suspect.

The reason? Monsanto’s Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean seed had been approved for planting in 2016. However, the company’s new dicamba formulation with lower volatility had not. In fact, no dicamba product has been approved for use with the Xtend technology.

It turns out the ban didn’t stop farmers – many desperate to control problem pigweeds – from spraying various dicamba products on the crop. The full consequences of those actions won’t be known until harvest but regulatory officials in several states cite a rough figure of 200,000 affected acres in the Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel and Tennessee.

http://gmwatch.org/news/latest-news/17301-farmer-murders-farmer-in-dispute-over-dicamba-herbicide-drift

[rug]

1. That's a very precise headline.

[womanofthehills]

2. How about this one: Herbicide use leads to slaying in Mississippi County UPDATE

KARK reported yesterday the shooting death of a Mississippi County farmer, Mike Wallace of Monette, and the arrest of another farm worker, Allan Jones, in an argument over herbicide drift.

Stephen Steed expanded the reporting on the story in today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He noted that Wallace had complained to the state Plant Board about damage to his soybeans from spraying of dicamba. He apparently met Jones to talk about spraying. Jones reportedly pulled a gun and shot Wallace after Wallace grabbed him. Wallace was not armed.

David Koon wrote on the Arkansas Blog in August about rising complaints about dicamba in the Delta. Conflicts arise because some farmers have switched to a new dicamba-resistant soybean seed while others have not.

Farmers who aren't yet using Xtend seeds are reporting widespread crop damage to their fields, with area extension agents suggesting it's caused by small amounts of wind-driven dicamba blown over from farms that are illegally using the herbicide in conjunction with dicamba-resistant soybeans to fight pigweed.

Though Monstano is seeking approval of a new version of dicamba that doesn't ride the wind quite so easily, researchers at the University of Arkansas tell NPR that the damage to non-Xtend soybean crops may continue even after the less-vaporous version of the herbicide comes to market. That ongoing threat could force more farmers in the region to buy Xtend seeds next year.
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2016/10/29/herbicide-use-leads-to-slaying-in-mississippi-county