As damage continues, EPA ponders whether dicamba is safe to use at all
The notoriously volatile weedkiller dicamba was blamed for 3,500 incidents of "off-target" damage this year, including to more than 1 million acres of soybeans, said the EPA on Tuesday. The regulator said it was reviewing whether dicamba "can be used in a manner that does not pose unreasonable risks" and said it would help states that wish to restrict use of the herbicide.
Cover crops a boon for weed control, says report
Often cited as a way to reduce erosion or improve soil quality, cover crops are also useful in controlling weeds that have developed an herbicide tolerance, said a survey of farmers by the Conservation Technology Information Center on Wednesday.
EPA cancels dicamba registration, allows use of the weedkiller until July 31
Farmers and pesticide applicators can use the weedkiller dicamba until July 31, the EPA announced on Monday as it canceled its approval of the herbicide, as required by an appellate court decision announced last week. The so-called existing stocks order will allow use of the chemical on GE cotton and soybeans this crop year — the goal of farmers facing the loss of a potent weed control tool with the growing season already underway.
U.S. court rules dicamba use must cease, affecting millions of acres of crops
Farmers can no longer spray the controversial pesticide dicamba over the top of genetically modified soybeans and cotton, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday. Dicamba is a weedkiller whose use has skyrocketed in recent years after agribusiness giant Monsanto introduced genetically engineered soybean and cotton seeds that resist the herbicide. The ruling means that farmers will have to immediately cease using dicamba on an estimated 60 million acres of crops across the Midwest and South. (No paywall)
Dicamba revisited: Will corn be the next herbicide debacle?
Dicamba-tolerant corn seeds aren’t available yet. But if the seeds reach the market, and tens of millions more acres are sprayed with dicamba, there’s good reason to expect a repeat of the soybean disaster, in which the highly volatile weedkiller drifted off-target and damaged 5 million acres of conventional soybeans and an untold number of other crops.(No paywall)
Study: GE crops not driving herbicide-resistant weeds, but still cause for concern
In a new study, published in the December 2017 issue of the journal Weed Science, University of Wyoming weed scientist Andrew Kniss finds that GE corn does not produce increased herbicide resistance in weeds relative to non-GE crops, but that soybean and cotton plantings do — but only to a limited extent. (No paywall)
Report: EPA considering ban on dicamba spraying in 2018
In the wake of this summer’s widespread damage to soybeans and other crops caused by the unintended drift from applications of the weedkiller dicamba, Reuters reports that EPA regulators told state officials that they are considering a ban on use of the herbicide after a cutoff date early next year. The idea would be to limit spraying to early spring, before soybeans emerge from the ground.
Arkansas a step closer to emergency ban on dicamba weedkiller
With more than 500 complaints of weedkiller misuse from Arkansas farmers, Gov. Asa Hutchinson approved an 120-day ban on use of the herbicide dicamba on row crops and forwarded the emergency step to the state's Legislative Council for a final decision. Hutchinson also assented to increasing the fine for egregious misuse of herbicides to a maximum of $25,000 and sent it to the council as well.
EPA: Widely used weedkiller atrazine is risk to birds, mammals, fish
The second-most widely used weedkiller in the country, atrazine, poses potential chronic risk to birds, mammals and fish due to runoff and spray drift, said a draft ecological-risk assessment by the EPA. The assessment is part of a review that started in 2013 on whether to extend use of the broad-spectrum herbicide in the U.S. for 15 years.
Palmer amaranth develops resistance to another type of weedkiller
One of the greatest threats to cotton and soybean producers is Palmer amaranth, an invasive and aggressively growing weed. The weed has developed resistance to the widely used weedkiller glyphosate and now Palmer amaranth populations in Arkansas are resistant to a class of herbicides known as PPO inhibitors, compounding the challenge of weed control, says a University of Illinois researcher.
A checkup on EPA efforts to control super weeds
The EPA inspector general says it will assess the agency's "management and oversight of [weed] resistance issues related to herbicide-tolerant genetically engineered crops."
USDA approves Monsanto biotech corn resistant to dicamba
The U.S. government approved commercialization of a genetically engineered corn variety from Monsanto that tolerates the weedkillers dicamba and gulfosinate.
Scientists call for independent review of Roundup
A growing body of evidence shows that regulators’ assumptions about the safety of glyphosate, commonly sold as Roundup, are based on outdated science, according to a team of environmental and public-health experts in a statement appearing in the journal Environmental Health.
Farmers lean heavily on glyphosate; U.S. averages 13 ounces an acre
U.S. farmers use glyphosate more widely and more intensively than any other weedkiller, says researcher Charles Benbrook in a paper published today in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe. Benbrook says growers applied nearly 250 million pounds (125.4 million kg) of the chemical in 2014.
Herbicide-resistant weeds spread in Kansas
Kansas, often the No. 1 wheat state, is the latest hot spot for emergence of herbicide-resistant weeds.
“Super weeds” threaten use of conservation tillage
Herbicide-resistant "super weeds" are a threat to adoption of conservation tillage in the South, says Southeast Farm Press. In its story, a USDA weed scientist says hundreds of thousands of conservation tillage acres are at risk of...
Move over quinoa, sorghum joins the gluten-free marketplace
Drought-hardy sorghum is a minor feed grain for U.S. farmers. Compared to king corn, it is grown on a sliver of land, mostly in the Plains. " Now some U.S. food manufacturers are capitalizing on its most marketable trait: Sorghum is gluten-free.
Dow gets cold shoulder for its 2,4-D seed technology
Two major seed companies say they don't plan to use Dow's genetics that allow soybeans to tolerate the herbicides 2,4-D and glyphosate, says Bloomberg.
Dual-herbicide seeds to be Monsanto’s biggest GE launch
After a decade of development, Monsanto anticipates its genetically engineered Xtend soybean and cotton varieties will be its "largest biotech trait launch...with six times the number of varieties" that it offered in a previous set of GE strains.