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Illinois ag director: Extension of dicamba deadline a “difficult decision”
Illinois Director of Agriculture John Sullivan says the decision to extend the dicamba application deadline in Illinois from June 30th to July 15th was not taken lightly.
“It was a very difficult decision because of obvious reasons.”
Sullivan tells Brownfield the original deadline was put in place to avoid the use of dicamba during hot and humid weather when the product is most volatile, with the goal of minimizing misuse complaints.
“The USDA (crop progress and condition) report came out on Monday and to see that less than half of the bean crop had been planted in Illinois as of that date was cause for great concern.”
Sullivan says he was concerned that farmers facing delayed planting would use dicamba when conditions weren’t ideal, just to apply ahead of the deadline.
“My hope is that by extending the deadline, applicators and farmers applying the product will hopefully pick days when the wind is proper, the directions are proper and they have done their homework so that we will see a drop in the number of complaints.”
Sullivan says the application deadline is the only change and reminds applicators that all other state and federal label requirements must be followed.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has denied requests to extend their dicamba application deadline because research shows dicamba volatility spikes in Minnesota after their designated cut-off date.
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