Dow AgroSciences still doesn’t have the necessary approvals to launchits Enlist corn system in Canada.
However, a company representative says there is a chance that Enlist corn, a variety with stacked herbicide resistance, could be seeded in Ontario this spring.
The Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency approved Dow’s Enlist trait for corn and soybeans last fall, which provides 2,4-D tolerance on top of glyphosate tolerance.
Dow had expected Canadian growers to seed Enlist corn this year, but the company is still waiting on two approvals, said Jeff Loessin, Dow AgroSciences Canada’s portfolio marketing leader for crop protection.
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The company needs Canadian regulatory approval for its Enlist Duo herbicide, which is a combination of glyphosate and a new formulation of 2,4-D.
“We’re not going to launch the seed without the herbicide approval. They go together,” Loessin said.
“The herbicide is designed to work with the crop, but it’s also designed to deliver benefits, as far as drift reduction and low volatility.”
Dow also requires U.S. trade approval.
“(With) the grain movement between our two countries, we don’t want to get into a situation where if we’ve grown the crop in Canada, we’re restricting movement of that crop into the U.S.,” he said.
“We’re not going to launch in Canada without the U.S. trade approval.”
Complicating matters, most corn growers in Ontario and Quebec have already ordered seed for spring planting.
Only a small number of growers would likely switch to Enlist this spring, even if it received the necessary approvals.
“We’ve obviously talked to corn growers and we’ve got a list of who some of the interested people would be,” Loessin said.
“If we get our approval, (those) will be the people we’ll go to see … and get some seed in the ground this spring.”
Dow announced in January it would push back the U.S. release of Enlist corn until next year because the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency have delayed approval amid an outcry of protests.
Environmental groups, non-governmental organizations and individuals submitted more than 450,000 comments to the USDA, opposing the Enlist weed control system.
Enlist critics include a number of weed scientists who claim stacked traits will exacerbate the herbicide resistance crisis in North America because weeds will soon develop resistance to glyphosate and 2,4-D.
