The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday that the agency will deregulate Monsanto’s Dicamba-resistant soybeans. Following the news, the American Soybean Association (ASA) issued a statement welcoming the decision and calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to quickly finalize the label for the companion Dicamba herbicide technology.

“Today’s decision by USDA to deregulate Dicamba is great news for American soybean farmers. In almost all of our 30 soy-growing states, farmers face a strong foe in herbicide-resistant weeds, and this technology presents another mode of action with which we can combat this issue,” said ASA President and Brownfield, Texas, farmer Wade Cowan. “We appreciate USDA’s work on this issue and encourage them to continue addressing our industry’s need for a more reliable biotech approvals process. We turn our attention now to the final registration of the Dicamba product label at EPA, and then to approvals in key soybean export markets like China, so our farmers can fully implement this technology on their farms.”

Because of the importance of export markets to U.S. soybean farmers, ASA has a long-standing policy requiring technology providers like Monsanto to seek and obtain approvals in key U.S. soy export markets prior to commercializing those traits domestically. ASA works closely with technology companies, fellow members of the soy value chain and government entities to facilitate timely, science-based reviews of new biotech soybean traits both domestically and abroad.