Dicamba Update

Dicamba will likely go down as the biggest agricultural issue in 2017.  This post will discuss some background information and then address several recent developments regarding the herbicide dicamba. Even before the new dicamba formulations were approved for use, drift complaints were prominent across the South.  In Tennessee, for example, there were approximately 40,000 acres destroyed by dicamba drift in 2016.  Given that there was no dicamba formulation available for over-the-top application approved by the EPA during the 2016 growing season, it is likely that farmers who purchased the dicamba-tolerant seeds applied older, potentially more volatile versions of dicamba and applied them off-label to their crops.These issues did not end when the new herbicides were available for use.  The University of Missouri reports that drift damage from dicamba has been reported in 21 states.  From January to September 2017, there were more than 963 alleged misuse complaints involving dicamba in Arkansas.  At one point mid-growing season, drift complaints were so severe that Arkansas banned the further use of dicamba during the growing season.  In June, Missouri initially imposed bans, but withdrew those in favor of imposing additional restrictions on application.  Tennessee also imposed additional restirctions in June.  The issue of drift damage is particularly concerning for sensitive crops such as soybeans, wine grapes, or vegetable produce.