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Illinois farmer duo depends on dicamba for palmer amaranth

The use of the newest dicamba herbicides is a luxury according to two Illinois farmers who say they hope it stays on the market.

“I’m concerned about how they are going to regulate the spraying of dicamba in the future because it works very, very well. I would really hate for them to either take that away or get it so restricted that it isn’t useful.”

Garrett Hawkins grows corn and soybeans with his father Ellery in the Mississippi River bottoms of Illinois where they are struggling with resistant weeds.

“We’ve got the bad weed.”

Ellery tells Brownfield Palmer Amaranth is easily spread on their fields by the railroad that runs through their farm. Garrett says dicamba has been the most effective in combating the weed.

“It’s a very effective herbicide and does an excellent job. It reminds me of when Round Up worked.”

Garrett says their co-op is very smart about application so there are few problems with dicamba drift damage in their area. He encourages all farmers to carefully follow the label to help keep dicamba herbicides on the market.