Arkansas Rice Farmer Alleges Loyant Herbicide Destroyed 2018 Crop Yield

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A proposed class action alleges Corteva, Inc. has harmed Arkansas rice farmers financially, and destroyed nearly all of their 2018 rice yield, by falsely representing that its Loyant herbicide was 100 percent effective at controlling barnyardgrass, a weed commonly found in nutrient-rich soils throughout North America. 

The 19-page lawsuit says that although Corteva and Corteva Agriscience LLC have claimed Loyant as a “rice herbicide” is nearly 100 percent effective at controlling certain grass and weeds that interfere with the growth of rice crops, the plaintiff, the owner and operator of at least nine Arkansas rice farms, found that not to be the case when he applied the product to roughly 800 acres of long-grain rice. 

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff’s application of Loyant in 2018 failed to remediate his barnyardgrass problem, as the weed and others “did not die as Defendants represented they would.” After the plaintiff complained to Corteva, the company, the successor to Dow AgroSciences LLC, encouraged the man to flood his rice fields, apply fertilizer and “wait for the Loyant to work,” the lawsuit claims. 

As the lawsuit tells it, however, the Loyant never began to work, and Corteva’s advice only worsened the plaintiff’s barnyardgrass problem. Ultimately, some of the plaintiff’s fields became so overgrown with barnyardgrass that they were a total loss, the suit alleges, claiming the plaintiff is among thousands of farmers in the state whose 2018 rice yield took a hit as a result of their use of Loyant. 

“Thousands of farmers in Arkansas—the heart of the American rice industry—bought and applied Loyant for its supposed barnyardgrass control, only to see their 2018 rice yield suffer when the herbicide did not work,” the lawsuit alleges. “Each of these growers suffered financial injury ranging from the amount they paid for Loyant to the amount of rice they were unable to grow—and, thus, sell—in 2018.” 

According to the complaint, approximately half of all American-produced rice is grown in Arkansas. Per the case, almost all of the rice grown in the state, 1.1 million acres’ worth, is long grain. The lawsuit states that the American rice industry is crucial to the domestic and Arkansas economy, with the state boasting more than 2,500 rice farms. 

The case summarizes that a rice farmer’s profits will be harmed should grass or other weeds occupy space in a given acre of a rice field. Alternatively, the suit says, if a rice plant is damaged and produces less rice seed or no rice at all, the amount of rice a farmer can harvest will be less than that of a non-damaged plant. 

According to the complaint, “survey after survey” has shown that farmers feel that barnyardgrass is the most troublesome weed for rice cultivation. The case says a barnyardgrass infestation can be catastrophic, and cause anywhere from 21 to 79 percent, or even total, crop loss. 

To combat this problem, Loyant was developed as a selective, systemic, post-emergent herbicide designed to be applied to weeds and grass that have already grown. The herbicide was designed to be absorbed into the unwanted plant, which helps destroy the entire weed structure and prevent perennial weeds from returning, the suit relays. 

According to the complaint, the plaintiff bought 100 gallons of Loyant at $300 per gallon for the 2018 growing season. The case stresses the plaintiff made the purchase after hearing and reading advertisements that promised Loyant would control barnyardgrass in rice fields, and after speaking with a Dow AgroSciences representative who affirmed that the herbicide would provide a broad spectrum of weed control. 

Although the plaintiff expected Loyant to work immediately, he found a week after application that the barnyardgrass problem plaguing his rice fields was not under control, the lawsuit says, claiming “it was as if the weeds had been sprayed with water, not an herbicide.” After speaking with a Dow representative, the plaintiff was total that Loyant was a “slow peel,” and that he should apply fertilizer and flood his rice fields to maximize efficiency, the filing claims.

“[The plaintiff] followed Dow’s instructions, but these steps did not help his barnyardgrass problem,” the suit says. “Instead, the barnyardgrass overran the rice on [the plaintiff’s] flooded fields. [The plaintiff] salvaged what he could, but on many of the fields to which he applied Loyant, he had zero rice yield for 2018.” 

The lawsuit claims the plaintiff sought compensation for his losses prior to commencing the litigation but that Corteva’s offer in response was “not sufficient.” 

The suit goes on to claim that once farmers began to use flying services in 2018 to apply Loyant to deal with weed control, they began to encounter “widespread problems” with the product drifting onto other crops, such as soybeans. According to the case, Loyant was far less effective than represented by the defendants and drifted much farther than the companies represented it would, causing serious issues with soybean harvests in 2018. 

Per the lawsuit, even though Loyant’s shortcomings “have been clear since 2018,” the defendants continue to market the product for use on barnyardgrass and other weeds. 

“Based on the widespread ineffectiveness of Loyant on barnyardgrass as of the herbicide’s very first growing season, either Defendants failed to adequately test Loyant before marketing it as a tool for barnyardgrass control or they were recklessly indifferent as to the possibility that the product would fail to control barnyardgrass,” the filing alleges.

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