The Arkansas State Plant Board, which is scheduled to decide today whether to limit use of the weedkiller dicamba in 2018, is getting advice that ranges from a letter that suggests permitting use of the herbicide as late as May 25 to a petition against any limits at all, says broadcaster KARK. A task force convened at the direction of Gov. Asa Hutchinson has recommended an April 15 cutoff for using dicamba on cotton and soybeans in the state next year.
Growers have filed nearly 1,000 complaints of damage to crops from dicamba sprayed onto neighboring fields in Arkansas. By one tally, damage is reported on more than 2 million acres of soybeans nationwide. The EPA is considering whether to put new restrictions on how and when the weedkiller can be used. Monsanto, which sells a drift-resistant formulation of dicamba and genetically engineered soybeans and cotton that tolerate the chemical, says dicamba is an overall success and opposes the proposed April 15 cutoff.
A Little Rock law firm said that more than 300 farmers from across the state, including some who suffered crop damage from dicamba this year, have signed a petition against the task force recommendations. “Many producers have seen firsthand the successes of dicamba technology in controlling the presence of pigweed in Arkansas crops,” says the law firm.
Meanwhile, seven growers are circulating an open letter to the plant board that recommends a different set of restrictions on dicamba than those proposed by the task force. They suggest varying cutoff dates between April 15 and May 25 for different parts of the state, a one-mile buffer between sprayed fields and fields with susceptible crops, application during the daytime only, and “a minimum of $1 million in liability insurance to cover over-spray.”
Growers have embraced dicamba as a new tool in the struggle against invasive weeds that have developed resistance to other herbicides.
At a meeting of state pesticide directors from around the country, officials said there are too many dicamba complaints this year for them to investigate them all thoroughly, reported DTN. Next year could be worse, said a Missouri official. Plantings of dicamba-tolerant soybeans may double, to as much as 50 million acres. Dow, for its part, is expected to begin selling GE corn and cotton varieties that withstand doses of the company’s weedkiller 2,4-D. “On top of investigating the thousands of dicamba injury reports across the country, state regulatory agencies are trying to craft dicamba use rules and restrictions for 2018 in time for growers to make timely seed and herbicide decisions,” said DTN.
Reuben Baris, from the EPA’s pesticide office, told the state officials that the agency is “very concerned” by this year’s complaints about dicamba and that “we’re committed to taking appropriate action for the 2018 growing season with an eye towards ensuring that [dicamba] technology is available … for growers, but that it is used responsibly.”