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Bradley: Companies partly past denial of dicamba issues

A leading extension weed scientist says the companies that make dicamba products are now moving past denial that there is a problem with crop injury. Dr. Kevin Bradley with the University of Missouri tells Brownfield Ag News, “I think I’ve seen that we’ve moved past denial, hopefully, at least. I’ve seen that happen by the companies. I don’t think at this point there’s any way that you can really deny that there’s a pretty major problem here happening in the U.S.”

But, Bradley says there is more work to be done because the companies have not addressed volatility as a cause for the injury to neighboring crops, “Volatility is one of the ways – it’s not the only way – but it’s one of the ways that dicamba is moving off-site and, of course, manufacturers… I’ve not heard any of them say that that’s a possibility, yet.”

Bradley says there is “a whole lot more to figure out” from the data scientists are gathering, “Ultimately, I think that the data was probably going to show that the more it was sprayed in a given geography the more injury we had off-site.”

With information from his colleagues in other states, Bradley’s latest estimate of dicamba injury to soybeans in the U.S. is more than three-Million acres, as of August 10th, and is expected to go higher. He says the full extent of the damage likely won’t be known until the end of the season.

University of Missouri Integrated Pest Management – dicamba injury map of U.S.

AUDIO: Interview with Dr. Kevin Bradley, August 16, 2017:

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