As complaints of damage from dicamba spiral ever higher across multiple states, officials in both Missouri and Arkansas enacted bans Friday on the herbicide blamed for vaporizing and injuring crops without genetically engineered resistance.
“The more than 130 cases of suspected dicamba drift reported in Missouri this year already eclipse last year’s totals, when many farmers saw heavy losses for crop yields in the Bootheel region of southeast Missouri.
“Effective immediately, Missouri Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn announced Friday that sales and on-farm use of the volatile herbicide would be suspended. The move is being made ‘with an abundance of caution and is temporary until a more permanent solution is reached,’ according to an Agriculture Department news release.”
Mr. Gray noted that, “Affected crops in Missouri include about 45,000 acres of soybeans, as well as commercial tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupes, grapes, pumpkins and residential gardens and trees, according to a Twitter post from the University of Missouri’s Weed Science program.”
The Post-Dispatch article added that, “Reported damage in Arkansas has been even more severe, with 596 complaints of alleged dicamba misuse pouring into the Arkansas Agriculture Department. Following through on a recent recommendation from the department, the state moved Friday to enact a 120-day ban on the sale and use of dicamba, starting July 11. Arkansas will also raise fines for dicamba misuse up to $25,000, beginning Aug. 1.
