<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><i>Attached and below:</i></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><i><br></i></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i>Good morning,</i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i>It has been about a year since our last general update,
but make no mistake -- the Save Our Crops Coalition (SOCC) continues to
diligently pursue its mission of preventing crop injury from drift and
volatilization arising from the use of the new GMO technologies utilizing 2,4-D
and dicamba. </i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i>As you may have already guessed, SOCC has been waiting
for EPA to make further decisions regarding the use of dicamba. In this instance, we believe that waiting is
good news for our membership. There
would seem to be no reason for EPA to take such time to review these new
dicamba uses, except for pressure, from us and others, highlighting the long
established track record of off-target dicamba movement and crop injury to
ensure that any future and new use of dicamba products is safe.</i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i>In spite of this waiting period, we wanted to update you
on a few top-line items:</i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i>— First, as you may already know, dicamba tolerant
soybean and cotton seed have been approved for use in 2016, but dicamba HAS NOT
been approved for over-the-top use on soybeans or cotton in-season. Advertisements and news articles found in the
agricultural press have not readily discussed the commitments Monsanto and BASF
have made to SOCC and to EPA regarding labeling (such as the wind blowing away
from certain sensitive crops) to curtail certain high-risk uses of such
products. These commitments are real,
and we hope will be effective. </i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i>Presently, we do not, at this time, believe there is any
chance that in-season dicamba use will be approved in 2016, because EPA has not
made any preliminary determination and started any public comment periods. Even when approvals are granted, we do not
believe such approvals will permit the use of ‘tank mixes’, such as AMS or other
adjuvants, of Monsanto's Clarity with ‘Vapor Grip’ because of increased
volatility. Yet, we do believe the
reality is that it is likely applicators may continue to mix other ingredients
to make the sprays more effective, even when these mixes are off-label. SOCC is working to find solutions to make
such off-label use more difficult for unscrupulous applicators.</i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i>— Second, there remain very few residue tolerances for
dicamba on food crops. SOCC petitioned
for residue tolerances on food crops, and Monsanto and BASF, in response,
submitted applications for such tolerances, unfortunately, we believe residue
tolerance approvals are a long way away.</i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i>— Third, we have been made aware of a very dramatic
off-target drift incident so drastic that dicamba moved across the Mississippi
River from Arkansas into Mississippi. We
will keep you advised as we learn more but fully believe this is potentially a
harbinger of our futures when the widespread use of Dicamba becomes a reality.</i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i>— Fourth, it may be worth taking a moment to reflect on
what our situation might have been like had Dow and SOCC not reached a mutually
beneficial agreement to curtail certain high-risk uses of 2,4-D. Consider, for instance, this last cropping
season in Australia. Australian cotton
farmers faced one of their worst growing seasons due, in significant part, to
herbicide damage related to the heavy use of generic 2,4-D in certain cotton
producing areas. I am so thankful that
SOCC made curtailing the use of generic forms of 2,4-D one of its key
priorities in its deal with Dow. See the
link below for more information regarding this last Australian cropping season:</i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i><a href="http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-09/cotton-farmers-struggling-with-crops-due-to-pesticide/7078590">http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-09/cotton-farmers-struggling-with-crops-due-to-pesticide/7078590</a></i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i>— Finally, a Colorado rancher is heading to jail for
spraying pesticides in contravention of a court order. I mention this story only to underline how
drift incidents can create such ugly legal fights among neighbors. I tend to think of American agriculture, and
its communities, as one large, if sometimes rowdy, family. Our goal should always be to ensure that our
policies do as much as possible, at the outset, to avoid such legal fights
among the ‘family' as possible. See a
link to this somewhat sad story below:</i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i><a href="http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29606831/colorado-rancher-jail-bound-spraying-mosquitoes-protect-wife">http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29606831/colorado-rancher-jail-bound-spraying-mosquitoes-protect-wife</a></i></p>
<p class=""><i> </i></p>
<p class=""><i>SOCC will continue to monitor and represent the specialty
crop industry until these new uses are given final approval by the EPA. We want to thank all of you for your
continued support as we enter the final phases of this long journey. Much progress has been made, but the journey
is not completed. We stand ready to
answer any questions or receive your guidance or comments as we proceed.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i> </i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><i>Please let me know if you have questions or comments.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><i> </i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><i>Sincerely,</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><i> </i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><i>Steve Smith</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><i>Chairman, Save Our Crops Coalition</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><i><br></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><i><br></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><br></p></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><font size="2">Laurie Davies Adams</font><div><font size="2">Executive Director</font></div><div><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font size="2">Pollinator Partnership</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font size="2">423 Washington Street, 5th Floor</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font size="2">San Francisco, CA 94111</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">e: </span><font color="#0b5394"><a href="mailto:lda@pollinator.org" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Arial;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">lda@pollinator.org</span></a></font></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">w: </span><span style="text-decoration:underline;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><a href="http://www.pollinator.org" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank">www.pollinator.org</a></span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font size="2">p: 415.362.1137</font></span><span style="font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/ThePollinatorPartnership" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/qFvFCWMd7ZB9TM_LTVdhWsdArNsUDMW59Vi8rJ7gNA7RNb-K0KMroCYBtke2Nf3mZeKPh264BhJoFbuEYxeDTfQmTCyzm7-ATcBBjGE0AAE3qKIMwouoSpETJTbAz_HciMqBu3o" width="40px;" height="40px;" style="border: none;" alt="facebook.jpg"></span></a><a href="http://twitter.com/Pollinator" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/3tI8vtmJi_iMnB5jrgaZzGfcca46bGXziB3Ds7h9Gogn_oGHv3GSRVAnCocajGHqQgwzZpC7mouiUMBLaeQTdmfbns9AWNaLUnOKTJFD503VaRu_e-MFi6knsT91HYyC_TLtGQY" width="40px;" height="40px;" style="border: none;"></span></a><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+PollinatorOrg/about" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/a2oQfAJ0Z9-1MGD-mrRp3X-81YwVDnKLQQAYc4R9svRUZT5hPJBX1r1DbcOliQ8VRpQTDBB8Xy7qLynmgCqL2LiXte8UIbc1I_f-f6SbUWY4HheeFvReSlhbGH9YC_yTZ5IxuiI" width="40px;" height="40px;" style="border: none;"></span></a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/PollinatorPartners" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cVPc0lFK0KKdsuSZEfOJCuWAqfijIdHXSs5_VL3kk6cKodRs9hPbtTZUfLjNZ2bMSSW4YRimaAGzDSwNT9xLJEAlpdcptobYJbd3hZJ-RFCfoJeRoa3CjCgJF72LwjvcTuLUlsk" width="40px;" height="40px;" style="border: none;"></span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="http://pollinator.org/index.html" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/zZyBlTpFQjYniFpnMQmc-RrBI2Rpe9U5uKaWfoKoMYek1ugA57_o8RKohSjfJo2JvAfqHKzkZ_Yo_Sqviy3IItch11tROejbCPxaLZ6GmWOfTP9NRiqw41r0FXUzkioCYDi40tA" width="117px;" height="52px;" style="border: none;"></span></a><span style="text-decoration:underline;font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><a href="http://pollinator.org//million-pollinator-garden-challenge.htm" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xvJTiXlf4_2FrLoy25N8mA58EWUhf0bq_7y0O_Mpgry4fDA03xNJOoSBdIKNJlElTT7wBuaZlah8bDxdn3I-PqkLByXUHbAwatAt3NTGd32GxNkPlq7pSsUjHQ0XsTNGajnAGV8" width="60px;" height="60px;" style="border: none;"></a></span></p></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>