The “overwhelming majority of farmers are experiencing tremendous success” with the new, less-volatile formulation of the weedkiller dicamba, says Monsanto’s chief technology officer Robb Fraley in an open letter to farmers, inviting them to call with complaints of damage from the herbicide.
A torrent of complaints about dicamba prompted Arkansas to ban use of it on row crops for the rest of the year and for Missouri to write stricter rules on when it can be applied.
Fraley said Monsanto, the world’s largest seed and ag chemical company has heard “reports that some farmers are noticing signs of leaf cupping in nearby soybean fields, which could be attributable to dicamba. Any time we hear reports of potential crop injury, from any cause, it concerns us. Leaf-cupping can signal herbicide damage but can result from other causes.
“In most cases, it is too early to know whether the leaf cupping will affect your crop yield,” said Fraley in announcing a telephone number that farmers can use to report damage. “One of our agronomic specialists will arrange a time to meet you at your field and to review” and evaluate the crop, he said.
University of Missouri weed specialist Kevin Bradley said there were 1,411 official complaints of suspected dicamba damage on 2.5 million acres of soybeans in 17 states as of late July. He said the reports “constitute a problem for U.S. agriculture.” Growers have embraced dicamba for weed control on cotton and soybeans genetically engineered to tolerate the chemical, which has been used in agriculture for half a century. But many crops are not resistant.