A group of farmers and a poultry company on Wednesday asked a judge to hold a hearing by Tuesday to consider issuing a temporary restraining order against the state Plant Board's new rule on the use of dicamba.
Mark H. Allison, an attorney for Ozark Mountain Poultry in Batesville and the Freedom to Farm group, asked Circuit Judge Timothy Fox for an expedited hearing on their request for a temporary restraining order and to set a hearing date for a preliminary injunction.
The Plant Board voted on May 3 to allow dicamba's use through June 30 across the top of crops tolerant of the herbicide. Farmers had a May 25 cutoff for the 2019 and 2020 crop seasons.
Allison, of the Dover Dixon Horne firm in Little Rock, said the farmers and Ozark Mountain Poultry, which contracts with farmers for grain that is not genetically modified as part of its non-GMO poultry business plan, face financial harm under the new rule.
The farmers' group and Ozark Mountain Poultry sued the Plant Board on May 11, the second lawsuit filed since the board's adoption of the new rule, which went into effect about two weeks ago. Both lawsuits allege legal flaws in the board's compliance with the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the operations of state boards and commissions.
Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, genetically modified cotton seed and soybeans to be tolerant of dicamba as pigweed grew resistant to other herbicides.
The request for the hearing by Tuesday is in case 60CV-21-2965.