On September 11, ClassAction.com attorney Rene Rocha filed a lawsuit against Monsanto, BASF, and DuPont—the three largest dicamba manufacturers in the U.S. Mr. Rocha filed the complaint in the Southern District of Illinois on behalf of Brian Warren, owner and operator of Warren Farms in Broughton, Illinois.

Dicamba is an herbicide that is sold under the names Xtendimax (Monsanto), Engenia (BASF), and Fexapan (DuPont). It is highly volatile and, according to the lawsuit, can “travel considerable distances and cause injuries to plants several miles away.”

The complaint claims that Monsanto and the other defendants deceptively marketed their latest dicamba formulations as “low-volatility” herbicides that would not be as prone to off-target movement. As a result, the lawsuit says that significant damage was done to millions of acres of American crops, including hundreds of acres of Mr. Warren’s crops.

“This has been a major issue for American agriculture,” said Mr. Rocha. “Farmers across the country relied upon the defendants’ assurances that these new formulations of dicamba could be used safely and without harm to others. That simply isn’t true, and as a result thousands of farmers are staring down lean harvests and uncertain futures.

”The complaint alleges that in June and July of this year, Mr. Warren observed cupping, curling, strapping, discoloration, leaf elongation, wrinkling, stunting, and twisting on his soybean and pumpkin crops. As a result, he says he sustained a loss of crop yield and will also sustain future losses.