The North Dakota Department of Agriculture has developed North Dakota-specific protocols for in-crop use of Dicamba on soybeans.
Dicamba is a broadleaf herbicide that's been used for about fifty years in North Dakota, mostly on small grains like oats, barley, spring wheat, durum, and corn. Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring says a new bio-tech trait released by Monsanto last year created Dicamba resistant soybeans, so the herbicide could be used on soybeans to control broadleaves. But the past year has presented a challenge...
"The problem has been this last year, in North Dakota and across the country, that there's been off-target movement or 'drift' that has ended up in other fields. We've been dealing with this since July and since then we've been developing, studying all the data, working with different resources to find out what may be the best approach that we need to take to mitigate risk and potentially stop any drift or any off-target movement of this product."
The North Dakota-specific protocols include no applications after June 30, or after the first initial bloom, whichever comes first; as well as no applications if the air temperature exceeds or is forecasted to exceed 85 degrees. The protocols are listed with federal requirements on the label of the herbicide. Goehring says he is going to be at the North Dakota Ag Expo in Fargo tomorrow (Wednesday), ready to take questions about the new label and protocols.