ASA Works To Find Answers On Herbicide-Related Damage

Aug 14, 2017

Following reports of dicamba-related damage to soybean crops, American Soybean Association (ASA) President and Illinois farmer Ron Moore releases the following statement committing the association’s resources to the pursuit of a solution:

“The issues surrounding dicamba-related damage to crops are serious ones, and as the representative organization for the nation’s soybean farmers, ASA is invested in bringing all parties together to find answers and solutions. To do so, we remain in constant contact with those companies selling dicamba-based products, and we are coordinating both with the United Soybean Board and checkoffs at the state level to draw on the data generated by their research into crop damage. We are also working alongside state departments of agriculture and land-grant universities as they investigate to understand what has happened in each specific incident and why.

“The first step in this process is for all parties to determine whether the reported damage is from dicamba or other potential causes. If injury from dicamba spray is indeed the root cause, we next need to understand how this happened. It is at this point that we are confronted with more questions than answers. Investigation and research is needed to determine whether damage stems from any number of factors, including off-label application, product performance or other issues specific to dicamba technology, off-label use of older formulations more prone to volatilization, unusual weather or ground saturation conditions that caused volatilization, use of certain adjutants or tank-mixes leading to volatilization, or other factors. We need all parties at the table to establish answers to these and other questions so that proper action can be taken to both protect crops, and protect access to this technology.

“We understand and support action to abate what is a critical issue in many soybean-growing states, and we understand those actions may include increased education, enforcement, or restrictions. It is important however that we are able to get answers to these questions and establish a path forward as soon as possible so that additional education or other actions can be put in place before next growing season.

“It’s important to note, too, that this discussion is larger than one specific product; farmers need and want new modes of action to tackle the ongoing issue of herbicide-resistant weeds. At the same time however, farmers need assurance that their own and their neighbors’ crops aren’t going to be damaged as a result of normal and label-compliant product use.”

Source: American Soybean Association

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.