On Tuesday, October 27th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its registration decision for in-crop use of dicamba herbicides in the upcoming crop year. The decision follows a federal court order last Summer that forced the EPA to vacate its registration of three of the four lower volatile formulations approved for over the top use in crop. All four were subject to reconsideration before the upcoming crop year.
The EPA announced that it would extend the registration from 2021 through 2025 for cotton and soybeans with new restrictions including new cut-off restrictions for use. New restrictions are said to include a downwind buffer of 240' and a buffer of 310' where certain susceptible species are located. A pH buffering agent is also newly required as a tank mix to further reduce risk of volatility, and additional recordkeeping associated with that tank mixing will be required. In addition, a new nationwide stop use date of June 30th for soybeans and July 30th for cotton is included under the registration.
Currently the State of Arkansas maintains a May 25th stop use date for all in crop dicamba applications with special use permits available to people with acreage on the unprotected side of the Mississippi River levee. The State Plant Board is expected to review its regulations for the upcoming year in the coming weeks.
More below:
https://www.agweb.com/article/dicamba-approved-over-top-use-2021-and-beyond
https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/14742-epa-oks-dicamba-use-for-five-more-years
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2020/10/27/epa-approves-three-dicamba-federal
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-2020-dicamba-registration-decision
https://beta.regulations.gov/search?filter=EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0492
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2020/10/28/breakdown-changes-2020-dicamba
https://www.farmprogress.com/crop-protection/companies-clarify-new-epa-rules-dicamba