Ag Headlines, Wednesday December 2, 2015

Dow Expects Enlist Duo to Be Available For 2016

The Dow Chemical Company is confident that the Enlist Duo herbicide will be reapproved by the Environmental Protection Agency in time for the 2016 crop season. EPA filed a motion to vacate the registration of the herbicide last week. CEO of Dow AgroSciences, Tim Hassinger, says they believe questions regarding the product “can be promptly resolved in the next few months,” but added that it is possible there could be some changes to use conditions on the existing Enlist Duo label.  The company continues to prepare for commercial sales for 2016. Enlist Duo contains two popular herbicide ingredients, glyphosate and 2-4-D. The EPA pulled the registration of the product last week after it says new data showed the combination to be more toxic than originally thought. Enlist Duo was approved for use in a select number of states with more expected to follow suit before the EPA pulled the registration last week.

USDA Begins Enrollment Period for CRP

The enrollment period for the Federal Conservation Reserve Program opened Tuesday. This month marks the 30th anniversary of the federally funded program and as of September, 24.2 million acres were enrolled in the program. USDA says CRP also is protecting more than 170,000 stream miles with riparian forest and grass buffers, enough to go around the world 7 times.  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called CRP “one of the most successful conservation programs in the history of the country.” Contracts on 1.64 million acres of CRP are set to expire on September 30th, 2016. Producers with expiring contracts or producers with environmentally sensitive land are encouraged to evaluate their options under CRP. The enrollment period ends February 26th, 2016. USDA encouraged interested farmers to contact their local Farm Service Agency to learn more or go online www.fsa.usda.gov

Obama Talks Climate Change Impact on Agriculture

President Barack Obama remarked climate change could lead to “fields that no longer grow” before heading back to the U.S. from the United Nations climate summit in Paris this week. The Conference of Parties or COP-21 climate summit started this week and President Obama addressed the group Monday. He feared that climate change could lead to submerged countries, abandoned cities and fields that no longer grow. Obama also participated in an event with Microsoft CEO Bill Gates and other world leaders to launch the “Mission Innovation” initiative and Breakthrough Energy Coalition to accelerate clean energy, according to the Hagstrom Report. The climate talks do not have a specific agricultural focus, but many warn that farmers need to pay attention to the climate talks. That’s because of the commitments the Obama Administration along with private companies is making that seek to lower agriculture’s carbon footprint.

NAFB News