Judge Dismisses Arkansas Dicamba Suit, and Crop Insurance
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.**An Arkansas judge Friday dismissed a Monsanto lawsuit aimed at stopping Arkansas from blocking the use of dicamba.
Monsanto, which is being acquired by Bayer, filed the lawsuit last year in an effort to stop the state's ban on the weed killer between April and October.
Agriculture.com reports growers complained dicamba drifted away from targeted crops last summer, damaging millions of acres of other crops.
https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/monsanto-loses-bid-to-stop-arkansas-ban-on-farm-chemical
**Many farm state members of Congress aren't crazy about the Trump administration's 2019 budget proposals for crop insurance, but ag economists are taking it seriously.
Kansas State University economists looked at a proposal to limit premium subsidies to $40,000 per farm and estimated it could take as little as 1,500 crop acres to max them out.
The Trump budget for USDA would reduce the average premium subsidy from 62% to 48% and would deny coverage to producers with more than $500,000 in adjusted gross income.
https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/economists-see-risks-in-trump-crop-insurance-cuts
**Railroad companies have until the end of the year to be in compliance with Positive Train Control, and members of Congress made it clear Thursday they don't want to add to that timeline.
According to Agri-Pulse, PTC , a safety mechanism allowing for remote shutdown of the trains carrying the nation's freight, grain, and passengers, was supposed to be fully implemented by the end of 2015, but an extension was granted giving rail companies an additional three years to have the technology fully implemented.
https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/10612-house-members-show-no-interest-in-extending-ptc-deadline