COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. — You’ll probably be hearing from a variety of sources about how to safely and legally use post-emergent dicamba products in 2019. These include Engenia® (BASF), FexapanTM (Corteva/DuPont), and Xtendimax® (Bayer/Monsanto). My purpose today is to try to give you a boiled-down version of some of the important aspects of this product and its safe and legal use.
Find full information at https://www.oisc.purdue.edu/pesticide/dicamba.html, including a frequently updated frequently asked questions document. Also find key information at product manufacturer’s websites. In other words, this article may be a good start, but it will not have all the details you need.
To begin, all agricultural products containing dicamba (even the older ones), are now restricted use pesticides (RUPs), which means you need a license to purchase and apply the product, plus follow all the normal rules regarding application of RUPs.
For the post-emergent products listed above, some new rules are worth highlighting this year, as required by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Note that the Office of Indiana State Chemist (OISC) has not added to the rules required by EPA on the federal pesticide labels.
In Indiana, only fully certified and licensed Private Applicators (farmers) and Commercial Applicators (Category 1) can purchase OR use these products during 2019 and 2020. Registered Technicians and other non-certified applicators working under the supervision of a certified applicator may no longer purchase or use these products. Mixers, loaders, handlers, and spray equipment cleaners also need to be certified applicators in 2019.
Prior to applying these products in the 2019 growing season, and each growing season thereafter, all applicators applying the products must complete dicamba or auxin-specific training. OISC will refer to this training as MANDATORY DICAMBA TRAINING.
In 2019, MANDATORY DICAMBA TRAINING will be conducted by product manufacturers. Purdue Extension offered this training in 2018, but that has changed for 2019. Even if you happen to attend a private applicator recertification program or commercial training with continuing certification hours (CCHs) offered by Purdue Extension in 2019 that may contain updates on dicamba, this will not count for the MANDATORY DICAMBA TRAINING. The federal label states that this mandatory training is to be attended every year, so last year doesn’t count for this year. In Indiana, the Office of Indiana State Chemist has indicated that farmers involved with a drift complaint will have their permit suspended for five years if they use these dicamba products and do not have the annual training. This means that that person would be unable to purchase restricted-use pesticides.
Record-keeping requirements have also changed. In 2019, the applicator must create the required records within 72 hours (three days) of the application. In 2018, applicators had 14 days to log required application data.
Below are some application requirements for applicators in 2019:
- You must consult DriftWatch (driftwatch.org) for nearby sensitive crops before each application.
- Before application, clean all traces of ammonium sulfate (AMS) from equipment.
- Only use nozzles specified on products’ websites.
- Only tank-mix with products listed on products’ websites, including adjuvants.
- Wear prescribed personal protective equipment (PPE): long-sleeved shirt, pants, shoes, socks, and waterproof gloves.
- Never exceed 15 mph ground speed. 5 mph recommended in downwind field edges.
- Spray booms must be above canopy 24 inches or less.
- Don’t mix products within 50 feet of wells, sinkholes, streams and rivers.
- Only apply between one hour after sunrise and two hours before sunset. Do not apply after R1 growth stage, or later than 45 days after planting.
- Do not apply if a temperature inversion exists at field level (fog tends to hang in the air).
- Do not apply when wind is blowing toward a neighboring/adjacent sensitive crop (within ½ mile) or non-dicamba tolerant (non-DT) soybeans or sensitive residential plants (within ¼ mile). STOP application immediately if wind shifts toward sensitive crops or sensitive residential plants during application.
- Apply only when wind speeds are 3-10 mph, including gusts.
- Minimum spray solution is 15 gallons per acre.
- After application, clean all traces of dicamba product from equipment.
- Maintain downwind in-field buffers (according to product and rate – 110 feet or 220 feet) except when next to label-listed non-sensitive crops & areas (application prohibited).
- Applicators in Harrison and Posey Counties must also implement a 57 foot omnidirectional (all sides) buffer to protect against affecting potential endangered species.
I would also guide readers to Purdue Extension publication PPP-119, Engenia, Xtendimax, and Fexapan Application Quick Guide and Required Records for Applications (publication date 12-12-2018). Most of the above bulleted list is written from that reference. If you got a copy of this pictograph and blank record last year, it has changed to reflect new national label language. Find a current copy at www.edustore.purdue.edu.
— John E. Woodmansee, Purdue Extension Educator, Agriculture/Natural Resources
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