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Arkansas task force hears dicamba concerns

A University of Arkansas weed scientist said Thursday he can’t recommend that dicamba be allowed in the state next year unless volatility issues are addressed.

According to a report on ArkansasOnline.com, Jason Norsworthy told members of an Arkansas dicamba task force that recent tests confirm the herbicide’s tendency to move off target and damage other crops and vegetation.

In a recent interview with Brownfield, Norsworthy said there is no easy solution to the dicamba volatility issue.

“It’s a difficult path forward it terms of being able to make an application when you have a product that doesn’t stay put and volatilizes over a period of 72 hours, which is what we’ve observed with some of this research we’ve conducted here in the past weeks,” Norsworthy says.

He says his tests show that BASF’s Engenia herbicide does have a slightly lower volatility risk than Monsanto’s XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology. Norsworthy says one possible option would be to somehow combine those two technologies.

“If VaporGrip is truly believed to even have a subtle decrease in volatility, maybe we look at adding VaporGrip into a product like Engenia—and hopefully the combination would further limit the volatility.”

But Norsworthy says it’s up the companies to address the issue.

The Arkansas dicamba task force plans to meet again in coming weeks, but some farmers in attendance at Thursday’s meeting urged quick action as they start to make seed buying decisions for next year. Any recommendations by the task force will go to the Arkansas Plant Board and any changes in current regulations would then have to be approved by the governor and lawmakers.

AUDIO: Jason Norsworthy

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