Many states have reported significant complaints from farmers about dicamba damage to their crops and plants, said an association of state pesticide regulators in calling for the EPA to tighten its rules on use of the weedkiller. “An early season cutoff date should be mandated,” said the Association of American Pesticide Control Officials in a letter.
The group also recommended year-by-year approval of dicamba. “This allows for changes to the label as additional information becomes available,” it said. AAPCO also asked for easy-to-enforce rules for dicamba. The current application regulations, which are based on the local temperature or weather conditions, present “great difficulty,” it said. The EPA is scheduled to decide later this year whether to renew its approval of dicamba and whether to alter the regulations on its use.
“The recommendations will carry special weight with the EPA, given that AAPCO represents the state officials tasked with enforcing herbicide labels — and dicamba complaints have overwhelmed them the past two years,” said DTN/Progressive Farmer.
Dicamba damage was reported on millions of acres of crops in 2017. There are fewer complaints this year, but the acreage affected is still sizable. “The unintended consequences of the off-target movement of dicamba affect every aspect of agriculture,” said AAPCO, adding that it told the EPA of “damage to a wide array of agricultural, horticultural, and homeowner sites.”
Monsanto, BASF, and DowDuPont sell low-volatility formulations of dicamba for use on genetically modified strains of cotton and soybeans. They say dicamba is vital for controlling invasive weeds that are resistant to other herbicides. But some growers and weed scientists say dicamba can evaporate and move from the fields it’s sprayed on to susceptible nearby crops. A handful of states have written tougher regulations on dicamba than those set by the EPA for this year. Arkansas banned use of the chemical on row crops during the growing season.
To read the letter to the EPA, click here.