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Ag groups welcome EPA Enlist announcement, but concerns remain

State and national ag groups are welcoming EPA’s decision to lift county-level bans on Enlist herbicides.

Minnesota Soybean Growers Association executive director Joe Smentek tells Brownfield farmers have enough on their plate as it is.

“With supply chains the way they are, growers were going to have an extremely hard time finding different chemicals to use. And it was just a perfect storm this year of things that this ban would’ve been very detrimental.”

He says while the EPA announcement is heartening, there are concerns this is only the tip of the iceberg with endangered species reviews.

“I think we’re going to see more of these species, and probably some plant species (as well), that may cause some restrictions with some chemicals that we’re very familiar with and used to using when they do these new updated reviews.”

Smentek encourages growers to work with their advocacy groups to make sure EPA has access to the best data when conducting endangered species reviews.