On this West Virginia Morning, it was a shock when author, musician and West Virginia University professor Travis Stimeling died abruptly in November. They were 43. Folkways Reporter Zack Harold collected remembrances from colleagues, former students and friends. He shared them recently on Inside Appalachia.
On this West Virginia Morning, it was a shock when author, musician and West Virginia University professor Travis Stimeling died abruptly in November. They were 43. Folkways Reporter Zack Harold collected remembrances from colleagues, former students and friends. He shared them recently on Inside Appalachia.
Also, in this show, farmers in America’s heartland are watching the effects of a recent federal court ruling about a popular weed killer called dicamba. The decision stops the use of dicamba, saying the herbicide can drift to injure and kill desirable plants, bushes and trees. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) now says despite the ruling, farmers may use existing supplies on their fields this year.
On the latest episode of Us & Them, we bring back a story from our archives about this ugly battle in farm country. Host Trey Kay and his colleague Loretta Williams head deep into farm country to hear from Bo Sloan. He’s the manager of a national wildlife refuge surrounded by farm fields where dicamba is sprayed. Here’s an excerpt from Us & Them’s “Dicamba Woes.”
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In February, a federal judge in Arizona halted the spraying of the herbicide dicamba, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says farmers are allowed to use it for this coming growing season. In this installment of Us & Them, we listen back to a story from our archives, exploring the heated conflict unraveling in agricultural communities.
There’s a nationwide rift among farmers over the use of dicamba, a popular herbicide. A 2024 federal court ruling has halted dicamba’s use, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given the green light for farmers to use existing supplies this year.
In this episode of Us & Them, we revisit a story from our archives that delves into the intense battle unfolding in farm country. Originally designed to help soybean farmers combat ‘pigweed,’ dicamba has proven controversial because it drifts from where it’s sprayed, causing harm to desirable plants. The legal fallout has reached a point where farmers and gardeners hesitate to speak out about crop or plant damage due to fear.
On the flip side, those advocating for dicamba have taken the matter to court, challenging the authority over pesticide use rules in some states. In a departure from the typical tight-knit atmosphere of rural farm communities, where issues are often resolved locally, Arkansas is experiencing an un-neighborly atmosphere, with tensions escalating.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.
Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.
Terry Fuller, former member of the Arkansas Plant Board, shows Us & Them host Trey Kay the place where several of his hay bales were set ablaze not long after he made public statements calling for limitation on the use of a special formulation of dicamba during the growing season. Fuller also says that two of his tractors were vandalized which caused more than $60,000 worth of damage.
Photo Credit: Loretta WilliamsTerry Fuller, former member of the Arkansas Plant Board, displays a couple of signs that have repeatedly been posted alongside the roads near his house. One sign could be seen from his daughter’s bedroom window on Christmas Day.
Photo Credit: Loretta WilliamsRichard Coy’s family has been in the honey producing business since the 1960s. Over the years, Coy’s Honey Farm became the largest commercial bee business in Arkansas. Coy claims dicamba has had an adverse effect on the plant life necessary for honey bees to thrive and produce honey. He says the conditions got so bad that he and his family had to move their business from Arkansas to Mississippi.
Photo Credit: Loretta WilliamsFranklin Fogelman, a soybean farmer in Arkansas, speaking at a special session of the Arkansas Plant Board in 2019. He believes farmers like him need to be able to use dicamba during the growing season to control weeds in their fields.
Photo Credit: Loretta WilliamsReed Storey, a soybean and cotton farmer, opposes the use of the newer formulations of dicamba during the growing season because he believes the herbicide can harm the crops of neighboring farmers. He sees this as “big agriculture against smaller growers.”
Photo Credit: Loretta WilliamsCharles “Bo” Sloan is the manager of the Dale Bumpers White River Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. He says dicamba has a tendency to volatilize when the weather gets above 85 degrees. When the chemical transforms into a gas, it can drift away from its intended targets. Sloan has heard the complaints that dicamba might adversely impact agriculture, and is also worried that it might be harming the environment in some of the nation’s protected lands.
Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Check out the original Farm Wars episode the Us & Them team produced for Reveal in 2019.
A weedkiller called dicamba has caused a split in otherwise tight-knit farm communities. In Arkansas, where initially there had been tight restrictions over its use, some farmers successfully pushed to expand its use. Yet others claim that the weedkiller may be damaging the habitat of the “Natural State.”
There’s a weedkiller used across the country that’s created a new divide between farmers. In Arkansas, people who work the land are at odds over a herbicide called dicamba. In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay and reporter Loretta Williams follow up on a story that’s gotten ugly over the past couple years.
A newer version of the herbicide is designed to give soybean and cotton farmers a way during the growing season to combat pigweed, a tenacious plant that can take over fields. However, there’s evidence that the chemical can evaporate from where it was sprayed and move to harm other plants. It’s become so controversial that some farmers and backyard gardeners are afraid to complain about crop or plant damage.
On the other side of the debate, farmers who want to use the herbicide have gone to court and challenged who gets to make the rules about pesticide use in the state. Rural farm communities are typically tight-knit and if one farmer has a problem with another, they meet at what is called the “turn row” to talk things out.
But that’s not what’s happening in Arkansas. The atmosphere has gotten just plain un-neighborly.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.
Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.
Terry Fuller, former member of the Arkansas Plant Board, shows Us & Them host Trey Kay the place where several of his hay bales were set ablaze not long after he made public statements calling to limit the use of a special formulation of dicamba during the growing season. Fuller also says that two of his tractors were vandalized which caused more than $60,000 worth of damage.
Photo Credit: Loretta WilliamsTerry Fuller, former member of the Arkansas Plant Board, displays a couple of signs that have repeatedly been posted alongside the roads near his house. One sign could be seen from his daughter’s bedroom window on Christmas Day.
Photo Credit: Loretta WilliamsRichard Coy’s family has been in the honey producing business since the 1960s. Over the years, Coy’s Honey Farm became the largest commercial bee business in Arkansas. Coy claims dicamba has had an adverse effect on the plant life necessary for honey bees to thrive and produce honey. He says the conditions got so bad that he and his family had to move their business outside of Arkansas and into Mississippi.
Photo Credit: Loretta WilliamsFranklin Fogelman, a soybean farmer in Arkansas, speaking at a special session of the Arkansas Plant Board in 2019. He believes farmers like him need to be able to use dicamba during the growing season to control weeds in their fields.
Photo Credit: Loretta WilliamsReed Storey, a soybean and cotton farmer, opposes the use of the newer formulations of dicamba during the growing season because he believes the herbicide can harm the crops of neighboring farmers. He sees this as “big agriculture against smaller growers.”
Photo Credit: Loretta WilliamsCharles “Bo” Sloan is the manager of the Dale Bumpers White River Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. He says he’s learned that dicamba can “get up and walk.” By this he means that the weed killer has a tendency to volatilize when the weather gets above 85 degrees. When dicamba volatilizes, the chemical transforms from a liquid to a gas and can move to other locations in ways that are difficult, if not impossible, to track. Sloan has heard the complaints that dicamba might adversely impact agriculture, and is also worried that it might be harming the environment in some of the nation’s protected lands.
Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
America’s trade war with China is fueling a long-running battle over weedkillers in American farm fields. It’s a tough time to be an American farmer — especially if you grow soybean. They are a $40 billion business in the U.S., but the price of soybeans plummeted last year because of the trade war. Soybean farmers are desperate to restore their profits and one way to do that is to boost their harvest.
Weeds can get in the way of that goal. For years, farmers have been able to keep weeds at bay with products like Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, but now, some weeds are resistant to the chemical. Monsanto and other chemical companies have another effective weedkiller that relies on an herbicide called “dicamba.” But there’s a problem: besides killing weeds, dicamba can harm other sensitive plants. In fact, in 2017, the drifting chemical damaged some three and half million acres of valuable crops.
There are petitions and lawsuits in the works. One farmer died in a fight over the weedkiller. It’s forcing farmers to ask: where’s the line between doing what’s good for my business and doing what’s good for my neighbors?
In this episode, host Trey Kay and his colleague Loretta Williams travel to Arkansas to report on a simmering battle — more like a civil war — that pits farmer against farmer.
The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to some limits on the use of a controversial herbicide called dicamba, which farmers throughout the region have blamed for crop damage. A change to the label on the chemical will restrict sales of dicamba to certified users. Dicamba, which was formulated for use on a certain strain of genetically modified soybeans, has been linked to stunted growth or damage to other soybean crops not resistant to the herbicide technology.
A growing number of farmers have complained that the herbicide drifts from target fields after spraying, putting neighboring crops at risk.
Monsanto, a major manufacturer of Dicamba, asked the EPA to change the label on its “Xtendimax Vaporgrip” product to restricted use only.
Credit Nicole Erwin / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Jacob Goodman inspects a field of soybeans on his farm.
Vice president of global strategy Scott Partridge said this comes after 1200 Monsanto soybean growers called the company for help.
“We looked at the off-target movement and we looked at the lack of buffer zones or wrong nozzles and wrong boom height,” Partridge said. “What we realized very quickly was that all of those factors are solved by better training and better education.”
Partridge said that now only certified applicators can use the herbicide. State departments of agriculture will be tasked with training.
In an earlier report by the ReSource soybean farmers in the region reported more than 50,000 acres of crops affected by misuse of herbicide.
One report connected the drifting spray to temperature inversions, which often occur overnight. The new label now restricts spraying to between dawn and dusk. Partridge said the company will also be giving out free spray nozzles to users.
Credit Alexandra Kanik / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Partridge said due to high demand, Monsanto expects to double the sale of the product during the 2018 harvest.
Jacob Goodman drove toward a soybean field in western Kentucky in hopes of seeing something different. Most of the 2,500 acres of soybeans his family farms here in Fulton County haven’t been looking so good, but trees that line Running Slough River protect this plot.
“Where I’m gonna take you to right now, we have one field that hasn’t been affected,” he said.
It’s been a week since he last checked this area. Goodman jumped out of the truck and approached a plant.
“You know the sad part about this?” Goodman asked as he inspected the plants, “I think these are starting to be affected. See that slight cupping, and how the tips are turning white.”
Credit Nicole Erwin / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
A soybean plant with early indications of damage from herbicide exposure.
He suspects the cupped leaves are the result of a recently approved herbicide called dicamba Xtendimax Vaporgrip, which his neighbor used. The weed killer works on his neighbor’s crop, a genetically modified Monsanto soybean called Xtend. But Goodman grows LibertyLink soybeans, another GMO variety developed by Bayer, and his plants are not resistant to the dicamba spray.
“Our neighbors, they’ve sworn that they have sprayed it by the label and I believe them,” Goodman said. He said he believes the chemical’s developers are to blame instead.
“Monsanto and these other companies are going to try their best to make it a human error issue. But when you have 2.5 million acres affected it is statistically impossible for all of that to be human error. There has to be a mislabeling somewhere,” said Goodman.
Goodman and other farmers fear their crops are now at risk as complaints about dicamba damage stack up fast. Data collected by the University of Missouri show that in the first three weeks of August, acreage affected across the U.S. increased from 2.5 million acres to 3.1 million. In the Ohio Valley region 16 farms in Kentucky and 24 in Ohio filed complaints, totaling about 50,000 acres.
Credit Alexandra Kanik / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
The agriculture industry claims to be completely in the dark as to how this newly approved formulation of dicamba might be linked to the damages farmers report. But researchers and extension agents are focusing on how the chemical has been applied and if the farm country’s climate might be a factor.
River Connection
Goodman noticed something that he and other affected farmers seemed to have in common: The farms all seemed to be clustered in low-lying river valleys.
“We have the four river counties here in western Kentucky and then a few along of the Ohio River that are starting to show damage,” he said. “It’s something about the chemistry and the temperature inversions that happen in river bottoms that is causing this chemical to freely roam.”
The Ohio Valley ReSource has mapped complaints in the region that reported dicamba misuse. Every county with a complaint lines a river or is in a floodplain. That could be an important clue because these areas are more susceptible to something that correlates to chemical drift: temperature inversions.
“No easy solution”
National Weather Service meteorologist Justin Gibbs said Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky are susceptible to temperature inversions.
“Especially as you get into the Appalachian mountains,” he said. “You’ve got the sharp valleys, you’ve got a creek running through it, and usually that’s where your most fertile soils also located, right in that river bed and in those river valleys right up against the river.”
Those lower-lying regions will cool more rapidly than the area that’s surrounded by higher elevation, Gibbs explained.
To understand the effects of an inversion on the spread of a chemical spray, Murray State University agronomist David Ferguson said it’s useful to think of the smoke rising from a campfire.
“The smoke from the campfire goes up to a certain level and then goes flat, and it goes horizontal instead of still going up into the air,” Ferguson said. “What happens then is all that air is trapped below that air inversion.”
Credit Alexandra Kanik / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
To understand the effects of an inversion on the spread of a chemical spray, Murray State University agronomist David Ferguson said it’s useful to think of the smoke rising from a campfire.
“The smoke from the campfire goes up to a certain level and then goes flat, and it goes horizontal instead of still going up into the air,” Ferguson said. “What happens then is all that air is trapped below that air inversion.”
Ferguson said the chemical that is trapped can later be released at concentrated levels. He said even the best chemical formulations designed to keep a fine mist of droplets have a bit of volatility and can turn into a gas.
Ferguson tested one of the dicamba products that is causing concern, BASF’s Engenia. He said drift wasn’t an issue in his test plots. He chalks up many of the complaints about dicamba to misuse. But he said there are also reports that even when it is applied according to the label there can be injury.
“There is no easy solution, right now I don’t know any correction,” Ferguson said. “I mean all the states are wrestling with this — Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky. It’s a national problem.”
Right now, those reports are under investigation. Several states have imposed temporary bans during the review, including Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas. Monsanto recently issued a petition to the Arkansas State Plant Board, calling the halt “unwarranted and misinformed.”
Still, farmers are eager for the Vaporgrip technology because weeds have become resistant to its predecessor, the widely used RoundUp Ready treatments.
Intended Target
Ferguson said one such weed, Palmer Amaranth, can produce between 600,000 to 1,000,000 seeds from a single plant.
Ferguson said the chemical that is trapped can later be released at concentrated levels. He said even the best chemical formulations designed to keep a fine mist of droplets have a bit of volatility and can turn into a gas.
Ferguson tested one of the dicamba products that is causing concern, BASF’s Engenia. He said drift wasn’t an issue in his test plots. He chalks up many of the complaints about dicamba to misuse. But he said there are also reports that even when it is applied according to the label there can be injury.
“There is no easy solution, right now I don’t know any correction,” Ferguson said. “I mean all the states are wrestling with this — Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky. It’s a national problem.”
Right now, those reports are under investigation. Several states have imposed temporary bans during the review, including Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas. Monsanto recently issued a petition to the Arkansas State Plant Board, calling the halt “unwarranted and misinformed.”
Still, farmers are eager for the Vaporgrip technology because weeds have become resistant to its predecessor, the widely used RoundUp Ready treatments.
Intended Target
Ferguson said one such weed, Palmer Amaranth, can produce between 600,000 to 1,000,000 seeds from a single plant.
Researcher David Ferguson pulls an amaranth weed from a test plot of soybeans. Credit Nicole Erwin / Ohio Valley ReSource
“Then if it goes through the combine all those seeds get scattered all over the field. And so it’s become a very, very, very big problem,” he said. “In fact, farmers have had to hire migrant labor to hand-weed it out. Some farmers had to plow down fields because it’s out of control.”
The new Vaporgrip technology is supposed to be the answer to these weed concerns. Monsanto’s Vice President of Global Strategy Scott Partridge said tests showed Vaporgrip was much more stable than older dicamba sprays, which have been in use for nearly 50 years.
“Volatility, off-target movement, and efficacy are tests that have been done for over 50 years. What we did is we actually reduced that volatility by 90 percent,” Partridge said.
He said the company has conducted over 1,200 separate tests and at least 25 field location tests to examine real-world, off-target movement, including the effects of temperature inversions.
“When it comes to temperature inversions, there can be certain conditions that create a higher risk, and this is one of the reasons we ended up developing a label that is the most detailed label out there for dicamba application,” he said. “We actually specify and warn about temperature inversions.”
The nine page label, approved by the EPA, warns against use during inversions. The label also says that the user is responsible for damage that could come from chemical application. Reports indicate that the EPA may revisit that approval.
“We’ve had a handful of lawsuits filed by some aggressive lawyers who want to get out there and put a stake in the ground, but that’s not a concern of ours,” Partridge said. “We’re going to work with our farmer customers to make sure that their experience is a good one. And that’ll take care of whatever litigation is out there.”
Credit Alexandra Kanik / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
“Chemical arson”
Back in Fulton County, Jacob Goodman said the issue pits farmer against farmer. While drift is something farm country has learned to deal with, dicamba is being called the farming equivalent of “chemical arson,” capable of affecting crops and trees miles from its original application.
“This messes with us on so many levels,” Goodman said. “Not only can we not tell the amount of crop that we can get at the end of the year, but we can’t price the market ahead in advance and make contracts because we don’t want to over-book and not be able to deliver this fall, because we have to pay the difference.”
The best thing that could happen, Goodman said, would be for the Farm Bureau or other insurance companies to “go ahead and pick up the tab.”
“Let’s face it, farmers have never had a good track [record] with being in the courtroom with these other companies,” Goodman said.
Representatives with the Farm Bureau and the American Soybean Association say they are working with state departments of agriculture as well as industry to find answers.
The USDA Risk Management Agency has even listed ways to contact insurance providers about suspected dicamba damage.
Credit Nicole Erwin / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Jacob Goodman inspects a field of soybeans on his farm.
Goodman said he has to smile not to cry. The full extent of the damage won’t be known until harvest in November. And looking further ahead, he does not like the implications of how the dicamba dilemma might play out as some major agribusiness players move toward a merger.
“Worst-case scenario, this continues and the Xtend soybean corners the market,” Goodman said. “If there is one soybean variety out there, that means that these companies can charge whatever they want for the chemical and the seed and the choice is out of the farmer’s hands.”
