The US Environmental Protection Agency published a memo expanding the use of two widely used herbicides March 29.

The memo provides changes for the use of both Enlist One and Enlist Duo, which obtained registration renewal from the agency in January with expanded controls for some areas of the country. The company had asked to add an additional 128 counties for approved use, which the EPA granted.

Both products are manufactured by Delaware-based Corteva Agrisciences.

The expanded use drew praise from trade industry groups like the American Soybean Association, which praised the decision in a press release issued Tuesday.

"County-level bans had growers in these areas anxious and frustrated when the announcement came out in January — especially in this market where inputs are scarce and costs are sky high," president Brad Doyle says in the release.

The National Corn Growers Association was also grateful.

"On behalf of corn farmers, we would like to thank the EPA for expeditiously reviewing the data and lifting the corresponding restrictions," says NCGA president Chris Edgington.

The expansions include counties in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. The counties listed in the original application were identified by Corteva as home to the American Burying Beetle. The agency had not considered expansion to those counties because Corteva had not approved use there.

The EPA also took advantage of the expansion to correct two apparent errors in original labeling.

The original EPA-approved labels had banned applications in Washington County, R.I., and Nantucket County, Mass.. The labeling lists 34 states where Enlist products can be used. Neither Rhode Island nor Massachusets appear on that list.

In addition, six counties in Minnesota were included in the original ban on Enlist Duo (Enlist One had been approved in these counties) to avoid interactions for between glyphosate and the Eastern Massuaga rattlesnake. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had concluded in August that the rattlesnake had already been killed off in Clay, Marshall, Polk, Redwood, Renville, and Stearns counties in Minnesota.

Corteva also praised the regulatory change in a press release quoting Susanne Wasson, president of the company's crop protection business platform.

"American Burying Beetle and Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake counties were prioritized because they represent the majority of restricted acres and getting them back on the label allows more growers access to this critical weed control technology for 2022," Wasson says.

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