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Dicamba drift impacts UW soybean test plot

A University specialist says a soybean test plot has been damaged by Dicamba drift.  Shawn Conley with the University of Wisconsin tells Brownfield he arrived at the plot last week to apply post-emergence herbicide at a variety trial site and quickly figured out what happened.  “Every single variety that is resistant or tolerant I should say to Dicamba, and of the Xtend varieties, are showing no symptomology and every variety that does not have that trait in it is showing, you know, the typical cupped leaves and that damage from what I perceive to be a volatilization,”  Conley says the Dicamba product might have come from miles away and he says, unfortunately, he might never find the source.

This test plot had both conventional and Dicamba-resistant varieties, and Conley says the purpose of this test was compromised by the Dicamba drift.  “With this Xtend trait in them, do they have a higher yield potential that can kind of help offset that extra cost?  Well, now that the non-Dicamba beans have been damaged, I’m not going to be able to assess that.”

Conley would not disclose the location of the affected plot but shared a video of the damage on Twitter.  He tells Brownfield he hopes to get useful information for farmers from duplicate test plots in other Wisconsin locations.