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Attorney: Dicamba verdict invitation to others harmed

An attorney says the $256 Million-dollar verdict for a Missouri peach farmer in last week’s dicamba trial will set precedent for future cases.

Don Downing is leading the attorney groups who worked with the Bader trial team, “We believe the result is just a strong indictment of the defendants’ conduct in commercializing a crop system that they knew would harm innocent farmers and others. And, we believe it’s also an invitation to the many thousands of farmers and others out there who have been harmed by the defendants’ conduct to seek fair compensation through our justice system.”

Bayer/Monsanto and BASF, makers of the dicamba products, say they will appeal the verdict.

A Bayer attorney told Brownfield there was no evidence of dicamba on the Bader peach farm and that the tree damages suffered were from a soil fungus.

Downing says evidence of dicamba symptomology was successfully presented at trial, “There was more than sufficient evidence that dicamba was on Bill Bader’s peach farm. Frankly, the argument to the contrary is absurd.”

Downing says independent weed scientists have said the 5,000 complaints filed about dicamba damage with state departments of agriculture is just the tip of the iceberg. He says there are many out there who have suffered “enormous damage.”