On Thursday, Missouri Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn issued a Notice of Release from the statewide Stop Sale, Use or Removal Order for specific dicamba products. This follows action the Department took on July 7, 2017, temporarily issuing a Stop Sale, Use or Removal Order on all dicamba products in Missouri following reports of non-target drift.
The Department has approved a Special Local Need label for each herbicide which includes special provisions and added safeguards as it relates to wind speed, timing of application, certified applicator training, notice of application and additional record keeping requirements for the use of this technology.
“From the moment the stop sale and use order went into effect, we’ve been working to get these weed control products back into the hands of our farmers,” said Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn. “BASF, Monsanto and DuPont came to the table and agreed to additional safeguards for product use in response to issues we’ve faced this growing season.”
“Collaboration among all interested entities, including farmers, regulators, registrants, retailers and applicators, is integral to the good stewardship of all products and CropLife America (CLA) applauds the Missouri Department of Agriculture for its leadership on this important issue,” stated Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CLA.
“We are pleased that Missouri worked with our member companies to swiftly resolve the short-term issues. If other states have concerns, we would welcome similar collaboration efforts. CLA continues to work with departments of agriculture, at the state level, through the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and farm and retailer organizations to ensure that crop protection products continue to be used according to label and are available for farmers,” concluded Vroom.
There are ongoing training opportunities available regarding the use of dicamba in accordance with its label. Applicators can find more information about training by visiting BASF’s Grow Smart University website, DuPont’s training module website and Monsanto’s training website. For more details on stewardship and compliance training, please contact CropLife America at 202-296-1585.