News

Dicamba drift claims process open

Farmers waiting to file dicamba drift damage claims can start the claims process.  The nearly 11-billion-dollar court settlement announced last June with Bayer, which includes 400-million dollars to cover drift damage lawsuits filed between 2015 and 2020.

Attorney Don Downing tells Brownfield under the settlement, affected farmers can receive up to 100% of their yield losses caused by off-target dicamba.  “All soybean farmers who believe they have a claim, in other words, believe they had dicamba symptomatology on any of their soybean fields from 2015 to 2020 and believe they have a yield loss as a result of that, we would encourage those farmers to get on this sooner rather than later.”

Downing says farmers will need a completed claim form and supporting documentation.  He says they can complete the claim process on their own, have their attorney handle the claim, or they can retain one of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee law firms.

Downing says if there are more claims than money, the attorneys negotiated additional protections for the farmers. “If the amount of determined claims exceed 400-million, in other words, if a farmer would otherwise have to take more than a 25% haircut, the farmer has the right to walk away from the settlement and proceed with litigation if they choose to.”

Downing says each farmer’s payment could be reduced a percentage or Bayer could volunteer to add money to the settlement if claims exceed 400-million dollars.

The lawsuit was specifically against the Xtend system developed by Monsanto, which is now part of Bayer.  Soybean farmers impacted by drift of the Xtend formula can file claims online or by phone at 855-914-4672 before May 28^th.