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Overreaction to dicamba could be a problem

An extension agronomist has concerns some people might be overreacting as reports of plant injury caused by dicamba continue to mount.

Paul Kassel with Iowa State University says he’s been following the developments in Arkansas, Missouri, and other parts of the southern U.S.

“We want people to observe and act, and not overreact.  And it’s kind of hard to know.”

Kassel tells Brownfield he believes dicamba herbicides like BASF’s Engenia and Monsanto’s Xtendimax are needed in Iowa to help control water hemp, giant ragweed and marestail.

“I’ve stated that we kind of need this site-of-action to control these tough-to-control weeds (and) not everybody agrees with that.  But I don’t know what our other herbicide options are.  We (also) have some people say that this amount of crop injury is unacceptable and we cannot have that, and that might be an answer too.  We don’t know all the answers right now.”

 

Kassel says while he’s not encountered any serious crop damage caused by dicamba drift in northern Iowa, he has seen the effects of the herbicide on non-tolerant soybeans.