Tennessee is the fourth state to take action

EXCERPT: "We've had damage across just about every acre of soybeans we farm in southeast Missouri," said Hunter Raffety, a farmer in Wyatt, Mo. "In our small town, the azaleas, the ornamentals, people have lost their vegetable gardens. It's a big problem."
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Tennessee joins states taking action on dicamba; Missouri imposes restrictions

Reuters
St Louis Post-Dispatch, 14 July 2017
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/tennessee-joins-states-taking-action-on-dicamba-missouri-imposes-restrictions/article_17321ec6-d8ea-5f4b-87f5-69b521bb87da.html

Tennessee on Thursday imposed restrictions on the use of dicamba, becoming the fourth state to take action as problems spread over damage the weedkiller causes to crops not genetically modified to withstand it. Missouri on Thursday also announced restrictions, partially rolling back an emergency ban announced last week.

Dicamba is sprayed by farmers on crops genetically modified to resist it but it has drifted, damaging vulnerable soybeans, cotton and other crops across the southern United States. Farmers have fought with neighbors over lost crops and brought lawsuits against dicamba producers.

Arkansas banned its use last week and Missouri, which initially halted dicamba spraying on July 7, has joined Tennessee with tight restrictions on when and in what weather spraying can be done. Kansas is investigating complaints.

"We've had damage across just about every acre of soybeans we farm in southeast Missouri," said Hunter Raffety, a farmer in Wyatt, Mo. "In our small town, the azaleas, the ornamentals, people have lost their vegetable gardens. It's a big problem."

He suspects between 3,000 and 4,000 acres of soybeans on the 6,000 acres he and his family farm have sustained damage, evidenced by the leaves of plants constricting into cup-like shapes.

Monsanto, which said it has spent years working to make dicamba stickier and limit drift when it is sprayed, is campaigning to overturn the bans. It blames early-adoption headaches similar to wind drift and cross-contaminated farm equipment problems the company faced when it launched its popular Roundup Ready glyphosate-resistant crops two decades ago.

"In almost every technology in that first year there are kinks that you need to work out," Robb Fraley, Monsanto's chief technology officer, said on a news media call.

He said many of the dicamba issues are caused by farmers not following application labels, using contaminated equipment or buying older formulations of dicamba that are cheaper but more prone to drift.

The company, together with BASF SE and DuPont , which also produce dicamba-based weed killers, has agreed to additional safeguards for product use, Missouri Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn said in a statement.

The dicamba problem is the latest regulatory woe for Monsanto after California last month announced it would list glyphosate as a probable carcinogen in the state.

"It's not good for Monsanto — if anything, this is more likely to lead to lawsuits rather than additional sales," Jonas Oxgaard, an analyst with asset management firm Bernstein, said regarding the dicamba launch woes.

Dicamba is key to Monsanto's biggest-ever biotech seed launch, which occurred last year. Its Xtend line of soybeans and cotton are designed to tolerate the weed killer, which replaces earlier products that contained only glyphosate.

Some weeds have developed resistance to glyphosate, which Monsanto introduced in the 1970s. Crop seeds such as corn, soybeans and cotton are genetically modified to survive the pesticide while yield-sapping weeds die.

Dicamba has long been used to kill weeds before crops are planted, but its use has spiked this season across the United States after regulators last year approved it for crops that are already growing.

Monsanto sells a new dicamba formulation under the name Xtendimax. The company says that Xtendimax drifts less than older versions. BASF and DuPont also sell less drift-prone formulations.

New restrictions in Tennessee include allowing application only from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to limit potential pesticide drift and banning use of older dicamba formulations.

"I'm confident that we can address this issue as we have in other cases to ensure the safe and effective use of these tools," Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Jai Templeton said in a statement.

In Monsanto's home state of Missouri, state Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst commended the quick action to update guidelines on dicamba use, which are similar to those in Tennessee.

"The Special Local Need label is designed to provide additional protection for neighboring landowners and still allow the application of Dicamba to control weed problems," he said in a statement

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Our earlier story, posted at 11:24 a.m.

The Missouri Department of Agriculture announced Thursday it has lifted its temporary restrictions on the use of certain brands of dicamba.

In a statement, Agriculture Director Chris Chinn said, "From the moment the stop sale and use order went into effect, we’ve been working to get these weed control products back into the hands of our farmers.”

“BASF, Monsanto and DuPont came to the table and agreed to additional safeguards for product use in response to issues we’ve faced this growing season,” she said.

The action announced Thursday affects Engenia, XtendiMax or FeXapan herbicides; the statewide ban remains in effect until Dec. 1, 2017, for all other dicamba containing products labeled for agricultural use.

The ban, which mirrored a similar move by state regulators in Arkansas, came in response to dicamba drift, which resulted in hundreds of complaints by farmers whose crops were damaged.

To reduce "off-target crop injury," Missouri has approved a "special local need" label for each herbicide that outlines special provisions and safeguards. To apply the herbicide to dicamba-tolerant soybeans and dicamba-tolerant cotton in Missouri, the following restrictions must be followed:

• The herbicide can't be applied when wind speeds exceed 10 mph. Applicators must measure and record the wind speed and direction for each field prior to application.

• The herbicide can't be applied on crops before 9 a.m. or after 3 p.m.

• Only a properly licensed Missouri certified private applicator or certified commercial applicator, certified noncommercial applicator or certified public operator can apply Engenia, XtendiMax and Fexapan.

• Certified applicators have to complete an online web-based form “Dicamba Notice of Application” prior to the actual application. Go to www.Agriculture.Mo.Gov/dicamba/notice/.

Certified private applicators, certified noncommercial applicators and certified public operators have to must keep and maintain a record of use for each application of Engenia, XtendiMax or FeXapan herbicide.

The new rules apply to the sale, distribution and use of Engenia (EPA Registration Number 7969-345 – SLN label MO-17-0003); XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology (EPA Registration Number 524-617 — SLN label MO-17-0002); and FeXapan herbicide plus VaporGrip Technology (EPA Registration Number 352-913 — SLN label MO-17-0004).