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Dicamba re-registered for five more years

The EPA has issued a new registration label for dicamba herbicide over the top use.  EPA’s administrator Andrew Wheeler released the decision during a stop in Georgia Tuesday, clearing the use of XtendiMax, Engenia, and Tavium starting next spring.  Wheeler says, “This decision includes a five-year registration providing certainty to growers as the make future purchasing decisions.”

Wheeler says farmers will have cutoff dates for using dicamba. “There will be a national cutoff date of June 30th on soybeans and July 30th for cotton.”

Executive Director Robert Karls with the Wisconsin Soybean Association  says the additional restrictions won’t be a problem. “Sure, that’s what they asked for. That’s what they said, (that) they were willing to work within those boundaries. Drift has always been a concern with dicamba so this is something that farmers, and farmers, they’re stewards of the land and of the environment. They will follow the regulations.”

Wheeler says an improved pH buffering agent will be required to be mixed to lower the volatility of the products, and that there are several allowable buffering agents already available.  Wheeler also says larger buffer zones will be required, extending the distance from sensitive crops from 110 up to 240 feet and up to 310 feet for fields near an endangered species.

States that wish to expand or further restrict use of these dicamba under the new label will have to work with EPA to do so.

Minnesota grower Bill Gordon with the American Soybean Association says they rely in great part on EPA support for the continued success of the industry, from measures encouraging biodiesel market expansion to these types of decisions regarding safe and effective use of crop protection tools, and ASA is thankful for the decision.

The National Cotton Council Chairman Kent Fountain says they appreciate EPA’s work on issuing a new registration label for dicamba, calling it a critically important weed control tool.  

Fountain says the Council greatly appreciates EPA’s timely issuance of a new five-year label, saying the economic damage that would result from not being able to use dicamba herbicides would be tremendous.

One product that was not mentioned in the EPA announcement was FeXapan with VaporGrip by Corteva, which also was affected by registration cancellation earlier this summer. A Corteva spokesperson says, “In this case, Bayer is the registrant for the dicamba formulation that Corteva has previously marketed as DuPont FeXapan herbicide with VaporGrip technology. Now that the EPA has registered Bayer’s dicamba formulation, Corteva is able to apply for federal registration of FeXapan.”

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