Both Bayer and BASF intend to appeal a court decision in Missouri resulting in a total of $265 million in damages awarded to a Missouri peach farm over alleged dicamba drift.

A federal jury in Cape Girardeau awarded plaintiff Bader Farms $15 in compensatory damages and $250 in punitive damages on its claims of design defect, failure to warn, negligent design and marketing, and conspiracy against Bayer and BASF.

Bayer issued a statement standing behind the Roundup Ready® Xtend® Crop System and Xtendimax® herbicide with VaporGrip® technology saying they “do not pose any unreasonable risk of off-target movement when used according to label directions.”

Bayer clearly disagrees with the jury’s verdict and is very disappointed with this result. We will swiftly appeal the decision. While we have great empathy for any farmer who suffers from crop losses, in the case of Mr. Bader there was no competent evidence presented which showed that Monsanto’s products were present on his farm and were responsible for his losses.

The statement from BASF, which was posted on the @BASFAgProducts Twitter, said they would be looking at their “post trial options.”

The evidence revealed that we formulated our dicamba product to significantly reduce off-target movement and conducted extensive testing before receiving EPA approval to market Engenia herbicide in 2017.