North Dakota Restricts Herbicide Application

Farmers in North Dakota have additional requirements for applying new dicamba formulations. The North Dakota Department of Agriculture (NDDA) added these restrictions to reduce risk of off-target movement.

Formulations affected include Xtendimax, Engenia and FeXapan—it does not affect generic versions of dicamba. These regulations are on top of new EPA label changes specifically for this state.

“We applaud the work done by the EPA and the registrants to develop the new label, but believe that a one-size-fits-all approach does not adequately address some of the unique conditions we face in our state,” says North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring. “To address this, we developed additional use restrictions for these products to minimize off-target movement of product.”

New use requirements include:

• June 30 or first bloom (whichever comes first) application cutoff
• No application if actual or forecasted temperature is over 85° F
• Applications must be after one hour after sunrise to one hour before sunset
• Sprayer speed limit of 12 miles per hour or less
• Applicators must notify NDDA and include contact info, certification type, date, time and location of application
• All applicators must complete dicamba-specific training course
• Minimum of 15 gallons of spray solution per acre
• No applications using 80-degree or less nozzles

The new labels could take weeks to complete and the new dicamba formulations cannot be bought or sold until they are complete.

“As a best management practice, farmers should strongly consider utilizing pre-emergence weed management strategies,” Goehring says. “Relying solely on post-emergence applications of Dicamba or any herbicide for weed control should be avoided.”