Corteva to drop Enlist Duo herbicide, ending long legal fight over weedkiller

Corteva Agriscience will discontinue its Enlist Duo herbicide, ending production of a weedkiller tied to years of legal challenges, as the seed and crop-protection company streamlines its portfolio.

The herbicide, which combines 2,4-D and glyphosate and is used on genetically engineered corn, soybean and cotton crops, accounted for about 1% of Corteva’s sales. Corteva confirmed that the decision wouldn’t affect its Enlist One herbicide or the broader Enlist weed-control system, which remain key commercial products.

The withdrawal follows more than a decade of litigation led by advocacy groups including the Center for Food Safety, which challenged the product’s regulatory approval and alleged risks to human health, neighboring crops and wildlife. The group said the move marked the end of its legal campaign against the product.

Enlist Duo was first approved in 2014 by the Environmental Protection Agency for use with crops engineered to tolerate multiple herbicides, an approach intended to improve weed control as resistance to older chemicals spread. A federal appeals court vacated the approval in 2020, citing shortcomings in the agency’s environmental analysis, before the EPA reapproved the product in 2022 following additional review.

Corteva, which was spun off from DowDuPont in 2019, said discontinuing Enlist Duo is part of a broader effort to focus on priority products. The company’s Enlist portfolio generated more than $1 billion in revenue in 2022, according to public disclosures, though Enlist Duo represented a small portion of that total.

Glyphosate, a widely used herbicide originally commercialized by Monsanto, has been the subject of extensive litigation and regulatory review globally, while 2,4-D remains under scrutiny from environmental and health groups. Corteva and regulators have maintained that approved uses meet safety standards.

Legal challenges to Corteva’s Enlist One herbicide are continuing, leaving part of the company’s weed-control platform under ongoing regulatory and court review.