On January 1, products containing >6.5% dicamba and an agriculture use label are now restricted use pesticides. In order to purchase these herbicides, buyers must carry a private or commercial pesticide applicator license. While dicamba herbicides have been on the market for over 50 years to control broadleaf weeds, the recent development of dicamba resistant soybeans has given soybean producers a new post-emergent option for the management of herbicide resistant weeds. The new soybeans are XtendiMax® soybeans and FeXapan®, XtendiMax®, or Engenia® herbicides, all dicamba-based products can be sprayed on them. Those producers who plan to apply any of the three soybean dicamba products MUST attend a training before any of these products are applied. This is a requirement mandated by the EPA approved label. These trainings cover basic drift reduction techniques, as well as label requirements. One requirement is before application of a soybean dicamba product; producers must visit Driftwatch/Fieldwatch, our states specialty crop registration site, and look for nearby sensitive crops. The Driftwatch/Fieldwatch site may be found at www.driftwatch.org.
As a produce grower, registration of your fields on Driftwatch is a step you can take to reduce the risk of accidental dicamba drift onto your crops. Historically, registration of sensitive crops on DriftWatch has been very low in Southwestern Indiana. This is a free tool, and all growers spraying dicamba products in soybean must look at this site prior to any application. If you have not registered your sensitive crops, this could potentially increase your risk of damage. Registering crops is easy. When you register, you will create a username/password then be able to outline your fields on a map and label them by crop (vegetables, tomatoes, pumpkins or melons, etc). If you do not have an email enter no.email@driftwatch.org and if you do not have a computer or internet but would like to register your fields call 765-413-5797. Once your fields are registered, you can also purchase DriftWatch signs to post in your fields. Dicamba applicators can then visit the FieldWatch Map to identify sensitive crops near their application site.
For more information on the new dicamba labels visit www.oisc.purdue.edu/pesticide/dicamba.html.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me at the Purdue Extension-Knox County Office at (812) 882-3509.