California-based American Vanguard Corp., the owner of ag chemical producer Amvac Chemical, announced Thursday it has bought the quizalofop-p-ethyl (QPE) product line of herbicides from DowDuPont’s ag division, Corteva Agriscience, for an undisclosed sum.

A Group 1 member of the “-fop” family of aryloxyphenoxy propionate herbicides, Corteva’s QPE herbicide is so far  marketed mainly to canola, soybean and pulse growers in the U.S. and Canada, Amvac said.

Corteva’s QPE brand Assure II, which came to the company from DuPont, is approved in Canada for post-emergent use against grassy weeds, volunteer cereals and volunteer corn in crops including canola, soybeans, flax, industrial hemp, sugar beets and faba beans, among others.

In Western Canada, QPE is also approved for use in chickpea and mustard crops; it’s also cleared for use in rutabagas in Ontario and Quebec and for lima beans, adzuki beans and mung beans in southern Ontario.

QPE’s emerging value, however, is seen to be in DowDuPont’s Enlist corn production system, which Dow launched for corn growers in the U.S. and Canada starting in the 2018 growing season.

The Enlist trait offers herbicide tolerance to 2,4-D and to fops such as quizalofop and fluazifop (best known as the active ingredient in Syngenta’s Venture L). Enlist corn hybrids are also stacked with a separate glyphosate tolerance trait.

The deal with Corteva also gives Amvac a license to market QPE for use alone or with Enlist herbicides in Enlist corn, which American Vanguard CEO Eric Wintemute described as “a segment that is forecast to grow considerably in coming years.”

Generally, he said, the QPE line “provides our crop protection business with a portfolio of valuable herbicide brands that hold significant leadership positions in the North American market.”

The QPE products, he added, “have a well-established market position, are solidly profitable and offer the promise of growth as the Enlist trait technology expands.”

Amvac, he said, “will continue multiple existing supply agreements for these products and incorporate the sales and marketing of these brands into our expanding portfolio of herbicide offerings.”

Amvac’s deal with Corteva gives it the QPE line’s technical registrations and commercial sales information, and the transfer of existing product supply arrangements.

Amvac in recent years has expanded its chemical portfolio through acquisitions such as Bayer’s bromacil (Hyvar, Krovar) herbicide lines in the U.S. and Canada in 2018, as well as Adama’s U.S. abamectin, chlorothalonil and paraquat businesses in 2017.

Corteva is expected to spin off from DowDuPont as a “pure play” ag company in June this year, as per the plan laid out by Dow Chemical and DuPont following their merger as DowDuPont in August 2017. –– Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Dow Agro announced Wednesday the glyphosate- and 2,4-D-tolerant corn will be commercially available in Canada and the U.S. for use in the 2018 growing season.

Enlist corn traits, which have gone only into company-stewarded fields and demonstration plots in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba since their approval in Canada in 2012, are expected to see uptake from growers dealing with herbicide-resistant weeds.

“We need this system. We are running into resistant weeds and Enlist Duo is a product that we can use to really smoke them,” John Baitley, who has grown the corn in a company-stewarded program in eastern Ontario’s Prince Edward County, said in a Dow release.

The trait’s full launch in Canada until now has been on hold pending regulatory approvals elsewhere, including the U.S. and other “key import geographies.” Enlist corn and soy weren’t cleared in the U.S. until 2014.

From an export marketing standpoint, if Enlist products were released in Canada before approvals elsewhere were obtained, Canadian growers could be left unable to export their Enlist corn, although most Canadian corn is consumed domestically, either in feed or for ethanol.

The company said Wednesday it’s also “considering options for the 2018 season” for its Enlist Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans and Enlist E3 soybeans, while both are still waiting on final import approvals from China and the European Union.

“The feedback on the performance during our stewarded introduction has been extremely positive, as growers have been very impressed with both the weed control as well as the formulation advancements we have made, reducing drift and volatility,” Dow Agro CEO Tim Hassinger said of Enlist corn in the same release.

The Enlist corn trait will be branded as SmartStax Enlist and PowerCore Enlist in the hybrids available for sale, Dow said, noting it also plans to “outlicense” the PowerCore Enlist trait package.

The Enlist trait’s companion herbicide, a solution of 2,4-D and glyphosate dubbed Enlist Duo, has been approved in Canada since 2013.

The herbicide is “optimized for on-target application” using the company’s proprietary “Colex-D” technology, the company said, adding it “minimizes the potential for physical drift and provides near-zero volatility” as well as “decreased odour.”

As for Enlist-trait soybeans, which also have been approved in Canada since 2012, their production continues this summer in Canada strictly under Dow’s company-stewarded “Field Forward” program.

Under Field Forward, growers get to use the company’s seed trait packages before they’re commercially available, while Dow manages the seed production, including its handling and storage after harvest.

“We look forward to continuing to work with China and their regulatory process for additional trait approvals so we can bring farmers new and much-needed technology,” Hassinger said in Wednesday’s release. — AGCanada.com Network

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According to the Reuters news service, the U.S. federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a request late Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California to vacate Enlist Duo’s regulatory approvals while the agency re-examines the Dow AgroSciences product.

U.S. regulators approved Enlist Duo for sale and use in several states in October 2014, while Canadian regulators approved the product in May 2013, a year after Enlist corn and soybeans got Canadian approval.

Enlist Duo combines glyphosate and 2,4-D herbicides, a pairing Enlist corn and soybeans are genetically modified to tolerate. The choline salt form of 2,4-D used in Enlist Duo, billed as less prone to drift and volatilization than other forms of 2,4-D, wasn’t previously registered for any U.S. herbicide use.

Reuters, quoting the EPA’s court filing, said the agency had learned Dow AgroSciences was claiming Enlist Duo’s two active ingredients work better together.

EPA said its study of Enlist Duo had assumed the 2,4-D and glyphosate components didn’t have such “synergistic effects.”

“The information suggests that EPA’s analysis may have understated the phytotoxicity of the product,” Reuters quoted the EPA as saying.

Late Wednesday, Dow Agro said it’s “working quickly with EPA to provide assurances that our product’s conditions of registered use will continue to protect the environment, including threatened and endangered plant species.”

“We believe the questions that have been raised about any potential synergy between 2,4-D choline and glyphosate can be promptly resolved in the next few months, in time for the 2016 crop use season,” Dow Agro CEO Tim Hassinger said Wednesday in a release.

Some changes could possibly be made to the use conditions on the existing Enlist Duo label, he said, but “based on the ongoing dialogue with EPA, we do not expect these issues to result in the long-term cancellation of the Enlist Duo product registration.”

Enlist Duo, Dow Agro said Wednesday, “continues to be available in Canada for its registered uses” and the Enlist traits in corn and soybeans are still “fully approved for cultivation in Canada.”

Apart from its uses on Enlist crops, Enlist Duo is also registered in Canada for pre-seeding and pre-emergent use on spring, winter and durum wheat, barley, rye and field corn acres.

Dow had already kept Enlist corn and soybeans from full Canadian commercial release until the traits were approved in the U.S., “out of respect for movement of grain between the two countries.”

From an export marketing standpoint, the company reasoned at the time, if Enlist crops had been released in Canada before U.S. approvals were obtained, Canadian growers could have been left unable to ship their Enlist corn south.

That said, the bulk of Canadian corn is consumed domestically anyway, either by livestock or in ethanol production.

In any case, Hassinger said Wednesday, the EPA now has all of Dow’s data on the observed “potential synergies” between 2,4-D choline and glyphosate in Enlist Duo.

“From these data, EPA will readily see — after evaluating all of the efficacy data on the final formulation — why this data supports the registration of Enlist Duo.” — AGCanada.com Network

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The EPA approved the herbicide for sale and use in several U.S. states more than a year ago, but later found that its assessment of the product’s two active ingredients was incomplete.

Enlist Duo is among a group of next generation herbicides designed to combat weeds resistant to glyphosate, a widely used herbicide in the United States and the active ingredient of Monsanto’s Roundup.

Enlist Duo, which combines 2,4-D with glyphosate, is meant for use on corn and soybeans that have been genetically altered to tolerate it while killing surrounding weeds that can drag down crop yields.

The EPA said it discovered claims by Dow AgroSciences, the registrant of Enlist Duo, in its patent filings that the two active ingredients work better in combination, according to a court filing seen by Reuters. The EPA’s study had assumed the components did not have such “synergistic effects.”

“The information suggests that EPA’s analysis may have understated the phytotoxicity of the product, therefore EPA can no longer be confident that Enlist Duo will not cause risks of concern to non-target organisms, including those listed as endangered,” the court filing said.

Dow Chemical said it was working with the EPA to provide further assurances for Enlist and it expects a “prompt resolution of all outstanding issues.”

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency approved Enlist Duo in 2013, a year after Enlist corn and soybeans picked up Canadian approval.

The herbicide’s Canadian approval covers its use to control annual and perennial weeds in Enlist field corn and Enlist soybeans, and in summerfallow. It can also be applied pre-seeding or pre-emergence in spring wheat, winter wheat, durum, barley, rye and field corn.

Both 2,4-D and glyphosate have long been available individually from other ag chem companies, but Dow has said its “proprietary blend” of glyphosate with 2,4-D choline offers “advanced technology” to reduce drift and “off-target movement” of its herbicide.

Monsanto said it is not worried that its next generation herbicide platform Xtend, which combines the herbicide dicamba with glyphosate, would be similarly targeted by EPA.

“Monsanto’s patent submissions have not made claims of synergistic activity between glyphosate and dicamba. We believe we have submitted a regulatory data package that supports approval of our product,” Monsanto spokesperson Sara Miller said.

— Karl Plume reports on agriculture and ag commodity markets for Reuters from Chicago. Additional reporting for Reuters by Sneha Banerjee in Bangalore. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.

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The move by the agricultural unit of Dow Chemical is aimed at avoiding the type of market turmoil that hit Sygenta and the U.S. grain industry when Syngenta commercialized its own GM corn without waiting for import approval from China.

Paul Bertels, vice-president of production and utilization at the National Corn Growers Association, applauded the move.

“It keeps American farmers competitive and provides access to new technology while respecting global grain markets,” he said in a statement.

China has rejected more than one million tonnes of U.S. corn over the last year that contained traces of the Syngenta corn called Agrisure Viptera, and several U.S. grain industry players have sued Sygnenta over losses from the lost sales.

Earlier this year, the National Grain and Feed Association estimated that U.S. farmers had lost more than US$1 billion because of trade disruptions linked to the rejections.

Dow officials have been eager to get their new corn and soybean seed, dubbed Enlist, into the marketplace. The crops are genetically altered to withstand a new herbicide developed by Dow called Enlist Duo.

But the company said Wednesday it has decided to sell the new corn only under strict conditions that include requirements that the harvested corn be fed to livestock on the farm and not sold. Dow said farmers who grow Enlist corn must maintain isolation areas around their fields to avoid contaminating other crops, and third-party audits will be conducted to make sure the restrictions are enforced.

The company’s new Enlist soybeans will only be offered to farmers as part of a non-commercial program that lets a small number of farmers try out the new seeds. Dow will manage the seed production, including storage and handling after harvest.

Dow received final U.S. approval of the combination of Enlist crops and Enlist Duo herbicide this fall after numerous delays. It has estimated the market opportunity for the product line at US$1 billion.

The company has been awaiting Chinese import approval for roughly two years, and has no certainty when approval might be granted.

The 2,4-D-and-glyphosate-tolerant Enlist corn and soybean traits were approved in Canada for food, feed, and environmental release in October 2012, but Dow had held them back from Canadian commercial release pending U.S. approval, “out of respect for movement of grain between the two countries.”

— Carey Gillam is a Reuters correspondent covering agriculture and agribusiness from Kansas City. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.

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The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California, argues that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not adequately analyze the impact of one of the new herbicide’s active ingredients, 2,4-D, before granting approval on Oct. 15 to Dow’s Enlist Duo herbicide.

The groups are asking the court to set aside the EPA’s approval.

Widespread use of 2,4-D carries a range of risks to human health, animals, and the environment, the groups allege. They claim the EPA’s approval violated both the Endangered Species Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

“They did not do an adequate job,” said Andrew Kimbrell, an attorney with the Center for Food Safety, a plaintiff in the case. “This was a rubber stamp. They acted illegally in approving this.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council filed a similar action last Thursday (Oct. 16) against the EPA to block Enlist Duo, saying the new weed killer will be destructive to monarch butterfly populations and pose risks to humans.

The herbicide developed by Dow AgroSciences is to be used with new genetically modified corn and soybean crops developed by Dow to tolerate treatments of the herbicide.

The Enlist crops were approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month. When used in combination with the new herbicide, the Dow products should help farmers combat severe weed problems hurting U.S. crop production, according to Dow and government officials.

Millions of acres of U.S. farmland have been infested with weeds resistant to glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide, developed by Dow rival Monsanto and used widely by cotton, corn and soybean farmers. Critics say use of Enlist will make weed problems worse.

But the EPA said last week it had thoroughly evaluated the risks, and was requiring many restrictions on use of the herbicide.

Dow AgroSciences said it is “confident that EPA thoroughly reviewed” Enlist Duo and that the EPA will prevail in court.

The EPA had no immediate comment.

The EPA has been inundated with calls for the agency to deny approval of Enlist Duo, including warnings from a group of physicians and scientists who said 2,4-D can be linked to health problems that include suppressed immune function and greater risk of Parkinson’s disease.

The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Food Safety and by Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm, on behalf of Beyond Pesticides, Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Working Group, the National Family Farm Coalition and Pesticide Action Network North America.

Initially, EPA approved Enlist Duo only for Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. EPA is considering approving it for use in 10 more states.

Enlist corn and soybeans and Enlist Duo have been approved since 2012 in Canada but have been held back from wide release pending regulatory clearances in the U.S.

Dow has held that if Enlist products were widely released in Canada before U.S. approvals were obtained, Canadian growers could be left unable to export their Enlist corn south.

— Carey Gillam is a Reuters correspondent covering agriculture and agribusiness from Kansas City. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.

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