Bayer Applies for New Dicamba Label
Bayer Submits XtendiMax Registration Application to EPA for 2025 and Beyond
This article was originally posted at 12:59 p.m. CDT on March 12, 2024. It was updated at 9:04 a.m. CDT on March 13, 2024.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (DTN) -- A new chapter in the saga of dicamba herbicides began on Monday, March 11, as Bayer once again initiated the registration process with EPA for its product, XtendiMax, for use in dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton in 2025.
The move comes just more than a month after a federal court in Arizona vacated the 2020 registrations of three "over-the-top" dicamba products previously approved by EPA, including XtendiMax, BASF's Engenia and Syngenta's Tavium. The court's action led EPA to issue an existing stocks order for the 2024 season on Feb. 14. This allows use of the herbicides already distributed from the product registrants following application cutoff dates on the herbicides' previously approved labels. The 2020 registrations originally had allowed for labeled use through December 2025.
In a statement sent to DTN, a Bayer spokesperson said "our priority is to have a solution available for growers for the 2025 season.
"At this point, we can share that our submission does include changes compared to previous years," the spokesperson wrote. "We will continue to be actively engaged with the EPA, grower groups and others working toward a solution for 2025 and beyond. We stand fully behind our technology and believe growers should have access to vital tools."
Bayer declined to elaborate further on how its latest XtendiMax registration application varied from previous iterations. However, in a February interview with DTN following EPA's issuance of the existing stocks order, Wes Hays, Bayer vice president of North American soybean product management, said the company had been suggesting farmers move application of its dicamba product earlier in the season to either pre-plant or at-plant.
"There's still farmers that used dicamba over the top in the past few seasons, and they can be very successful with those applications," Hays said. "But we know that you can get really good weed control moving it earlier and then using things like Warrant herbicide, an encapsulated acetochlor, as a residual along with either Roundup or a glufosinate product as a post if they need it."
DTN reached out to EPA, and the federal agency confirmed receipt of Bayer's registration package for XtendiMax for 2025 and beyond. Under the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act, EPA has 21 days after it receives a registration application and fee to conduct an initial screen of the application's contents for completeness and for the applicant to make any necessary corrections. If the contents are not completed within 21 days, EPA may reject the application.
An EPA spokesperson wrote that the registration would not begin work on this action, which will include an initial 30-day public comment period for the notice of receipt of the package, until the end of the 21-day content screen.
Following the initial 21-day content screen, EPA checks to make sure the application is ready for a comprehensive review called the 45/90-day Preliminary Technical Screen. In this screening, EPA determines whether the data and information submitted with the application are adequate and sufficient; consistent with the proposed labeling and any proposed tolerance or tolerance exemption; and sufficient such that a full review could result in the granting of the application.
Once a pesticide product application passes both screening periods, EPA will complete a comprehensive science review. Any data deficiencies or additional information needed to complete the reviews will result in EPA notifying the applicant. The applicant will have 75 days to make corrections or additions to complete the application.
In response to a DTN inquiry about efforts to obtain EPA registration for Tavium, Syngenta provided the following statement:
"Syngenta continues to stand fully behind Tavium for the 2024 growing season. We appreciate EPA's clear and timely guidance in its existing stocks order that allows for Tavium to be available to growers for use this season. We are considering our options to meet the needs of our customers in 2025 and beyond."
BASF, the registrant of Engenia, did not immediately respond to DTN's inquiry.
Read more DTN coverage of this developing story here:
Jason Jenkins can be reached at jason.jenkins@dtn.com
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