Dicamba Drift Complaints Heat Up

Pucker up is taking on a specific meaning across the soybean belt as reports of dicamba injury start to mount in several states. The slightest whiff of dicamba herbicide causes sensitive soybean leaves to cup and pucker. As of June 12, there had been 41 drift complaints implicating dicamba registered with the Arkansas State Plant Board, according to Adrianne Barnes, communications director for the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.Tennessee Department of Agriculture officials said three complaints have been received so far -- two in Dyer County and one in Shelby County. Weed scientists in Missouri and Mississippi have also been walking fields to inspect potential injury. Across the Midwest, there are urgent pleas for applicators to follow proper protocols and to respect neighboring crops and other sensitive areas as spraying ramps up.University of Arkansas weed scientist Tom Barber told DTN dicamba injury symptoms are widespread in his state. "We already have more complaints than the 32 total cases in 2016, and we're a week or more ahead of the first complaint last year," he said. "That northeast Arkansas crop is still pretty young because of weather and replant -- so we've got a ways to go on spraying."