Dow’s 2,4-D-Resistant Technology Faces Delay
22 January 2013 
Dow AgroSciences’ launch of Enlist, its new herbicide-resistant trait technology, will be unexpectedly delayed as it awaits U.S. regulatory approvals.
The Indianapolis, Indiana-based Big 6 company said it now expects to start selling Enlist corn in late 2013 for planting in the 2014 crop year, instead of the initial target for the 2013 crop year.
It said it will be ready to ramp up Enlist corn in a “broad geography and hybrid portfolio for 2014.”
Dow – which has encountered significant opposition by anti-biotechnology activists throughout the regulatory phase – said U.S. cropland acres infested with glyphosate-resistant weeds soared 80% in the past two years, emphasizing the need for its technology.
“Dow AgroSciences stands ready to help farmers meet the weed control challenges they’re facing,” said Damon Palmer, U.S. commercial leader, Enlist Weed Control System. “We are committed to introducing this technology responsibly and sustaining it for the long term.”
“We have conducted field research trials over the past several years evaluating the Enlist Weed Control System concepts on our most problematic weed species such as glyphosate-resistant waterhemp and horseweed (also known as marestail),” said Bryan Young, Ph.D., professor, Southern Illinois University. “The approach of combining multiple herbicide modes of action, a sound residual herbicide at planting, and effective herbicide mixtures for in-season post-emergence applications has proven to be quite effective.”
The company said it plans a broad introduction of regional and local field experience plots and on-farm technical plots in the coming months.
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