DTN writer Emily Unglesbee reported today that, “If you’re feeling a little confused about the EPA’s new rules on dicamba for 2018, you’re not alone.
“Last week, EPA made some dicamba herbicides restricted use pesticides (RUP) and issued new labels for them, with tighter use restrictions. We’ve rounded up some of the most common questions posed to DTN in the past few days on these new rules.”
The DTN article proceeded to highlight several important issues on this topic in a “question and answer” format.
Here are some highlights from Ms. Unglesbee’s DTN article:
“– Will this affect all dicamba products, including those used in corn and pasture management?
“The EPA’s RUP classification only applies to any use of the three new formulations of dicamba labeled for (among other things) over-the-top use on Xtend soybeans and cotton. They are Monsanto’s XtendiMax, BASF’s Engenia and DuPont Pioneer’s FeXapan herbicides.
“Farmers who routinely use other, older dicamba formulations to control weeds in their cornfields or pastures will not see those products’ availability change under the new EPA rules.
“However, individual states are in the midst of deciding whether to adopt more restrictive rules that could affect other formulations of dicamba.”
Another question, “– How will this affect my access to the new dicamba herbicides?
“The RUP classification limits the sales of the new dicamba herbicides to retailers and applicators who have gone through a certification and licensing process to sell or purchase restricted use pesticides.
“That means all applicators, either private or commercial, must undergo their state’s RUP training requirements before the 2018 spraying season.”
The DTN article also noted this important question, “– Do the new labels address all the causes of the 2017 dicamba injury crisis?
“In a word, no.
“‘They’re primarily trying to tighten up issues related to physical drift and secondarily tying up issues related to temperature inversions, but I don’t think they’ve addressed the volatility issue at all,’ said [Purdue University weed scientist Bill Johnson.]”
“Manufacturers of the new dicamba herbicides have strongly disputed that volatility played a role in the dicamba injury seen in more than 3 million acres of soybeans (and untold acres of non-agricultural plants) in 2017.”
The DTN article added: “You can find the new label for XtendiMax here: http://bit.ly/… and Engenia here: http://bit.ly/….”
