Monsanto’s newest herbicide-tolerant soybean seeds have not yet been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. But that hasn’t stopped the company from releasing the product to store shelves.
And now the seeds are being blamed for leading to damaged soybean crops, reports The Rural Blog. Xtend soybeans are immune to a particular herbicide called Dicamba. Dicamba is known for vaporizing quickly and blowing with the wind, potentially harming neighboring crops. A new, less vaporous form of Dicamba is being developed.
And these new soybeans were created for the new form of the herbicide. But farmers are using the older form of Dicamba on their soybeans. The resulting damaged crops have led to farmers in Missouri and Arkansas filing formal complaints with their state Departments of Agriculture.
