Illinois Corn Growers Association joined seventy-seven other farm organizations from thirty states asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the registration of Enlist Duo herbicide.

The EPA has become slower and slower at evaluating and making new crop protection products and new technologies available for sale to U.S. farmers.  This is a big problem, as farmers rely on new products to continue increasing yields to feed export markets and renewable fuel needs.

According to the letter, “Agriculture across the country is at a crossroads. Our farmers must be able to compete on a global stage in the face of many challenges. An important issue is the changing weed control landscape. As weed resistance continues to grow in both intensity and geographic spread, inadequate weed control is reducing yields and increasing costs of production.

“The Enlist Weed Control System has undergone a thorough regulatory review at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In fact, our members have seen a number of new requirements on the fifteen-state Enlist Duo label. Most notably, EPA conducted a first-time thorough review of the specific potential effects of the product on threatened and endangered species. After an extensive state-by-state review, EPA concluded that use of Enlist Duo in accordance with the product label, which imposed a 30-foot wind directional buffer zone, would have no effect on threatened and endangered species.”

Yet, despite a thorough review, the EPA still has not registered Enlist Duo for use.

IL Corn understands how important access to new technologies is to our farmer members.  We will continue to seek expeditious registration of new technologies.