As plaintiffs urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to hold the Environmental Protection Agency in contempt of court for its decision to allow spraying of dicamba through July 31 even though the court had vacated three dicamba herbicides, BASF and Corteva Agriscience filed motions to intervene in the June 3 decision.

The plaintiffs, which include the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity, estimated that up to 16 million pounds of dicamba could be applied in the weeks ahead, in direct violation of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, DTN/The Progressive Farmer reported. On Friday, the court’s panel of judges responded and ordered EPA to respond to the emergency motion by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a news release, “USDA supports the actions taken by the EPA to respond responsibly to the decision of the Ninth Circuit regarding dicamba.”

“At a time when the security of the food supply chain is paramount, the Center for Biological Diversity and its allies seek to cripple American farmers and further limit their ability to feed, fuel, and clothe this nation and the world. The Ninth Circuit should not allow plaintiffs’ hostility against the American farmer to cloud the fact that the EPA’s actions follow both legal precedent and common sense.”

The case vacated registrations for XtendiMax (Bayer), Engenia (BASF), and FeXapan (Corteva), Successful Farming noted.

“Corteva is seeking to intervene to preserve our rights and to support the rights of customers to use the impacted dicamba weed control technologies,” the company said in a news release.

“We believe dicamba is an effective weed management tool for farmers when used according to the label. We also seek to preserve the role of the U.S. EPA to administer the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act, including granting or cancelling crop protection product registrations, for the benefit of agriculture and society.”