2018 Farm Outlook

2018 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS Oct. 25, 2018 Page 23 animals. However, a downside to dicamba is that it is more “volatile.” In other words, it is more prone to drifting into other fields, where it may damage adjacent crops instead of weeds, and especially soybeans. Monsanto was working on a new seed crop in 2017 that was resistant to dicamba, but trouble began to brew in the fields. Before the new seeds were ready, reports came to light of people using dicamba on their current crops, despite warnings. As the year went on, the problem continued to grow for farmers across the country, despite some states outlawing the use of dicamba. Both Arkansas and Missouri banned the use of the pesticide, although some farmers in those states still applied it to their fields. Despite the issues with drift in 2017, the numbers of complaints investigated by the government across the country have gone down for 2018. Clinton Griffiths of the Genetic Literacy Project confirms that assessment. “Following high drift and volatility complains in 2017, Bayer claims those numbers are lower this season,” writes Griffiths. “According to Bayer, by August this season there were 13 complaints per million acres of seed. That compares to 99 per million acres last year.” Griffiths’ report adds that “[in] Missouri, state departments of agriculture were investigating 605 reports of dicamba-related injury as of mid-July. That compares to 1,411 complaints at the same time last year.” Different sources report different reasons for why the numbers of dicamba-related claims have fallen. Some research suggests that various state-level regulations are responsible, but they may not be the only solution. Juliette Michel of Phys.org adds that “while total reports of contamination have fallen, they have declined sharply in states that imposed tough regulations on the pesticide, while increasing in states that have not.” Alternatively, some farmers are reporting that proper training and instruction in the use of pesticides such as dicamba have helped to reduce their problems. Scott Dauk, a farmer speaking at an agriculture show in Iowa, reported his own success in reducing crop damage. Dauk says that he looked for information on what kind of equipment to use and how to spray the dicamba: “on spraying speed, pressure and gallons applied per acre. Based on that information, he was given the nozzles he needed.” Farmers like Dauk have also begun growing dicamba-resistant seeds that were released earlier this year. Dauk neither saw nor heard of dicamba drift problems in his area this year. He made sure he was watchful of adjacent crops, and talked to neighbors about his use of the herbicide. Additionally, he took extra precaution by adding a buffer between dicamba-tolerant and non-tolerant soybeans. But while damage on soybeans has dropped, some experts are warning farmers not to get CONTINUED