The US Environmental Protection Agency has updated the dicamba application guidelines in four states.
Aaron Hager an associate professor at the University of Illinois says there are a couple of different changes for soybean farmers in Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. “The new calendar application deadline is June 12 for those three states,” he says. “The other change is that now, dicamba can not be applied past the V4 growth stage of soybeans.”
He says the deadline for farmers in South Dakota is now June 20th.
Hager tells Brownfield the timing isn’t great as most farmers have already made their seed and chemical purchases. “We’re sitting here a month and a half, maybe even less than that, from beginning soybean planting across these states where these new labels come into effect,” he says. “If we have some sort of a delay in planting, this could really be challenging for some soybean farmers.”
He says having a conversation with input suppliers is a good idea for some farmers. “Hypothetically, if we have a delayed planting season, we may hit that June 12 cutoff date and not be able to make a foliar application of these dicamba products,” he says. “However, with the flex variety of dicamba soybeans, they would still have the option to switch to something like a glufosinate or a Liberty or Interline type of product.”
He says states may have additional application restrictions. “We do actually have a temperature threshold here in Illinois,” he says. “That is if the actual or forecasted temperature exceeds 85 degrees for the day of the application, then that application cannot take place.”
Hager says farmers in Iowa, Indiana, and South Dakota should also check to make sure there are no additional state-level restrictions for application.
