Market News & Headlines >> EPA Said to Consider Cutoff Date For Dicamba Sprayings

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering instituting a cut-off date for spraying of the controversial herbicide dicamba for 2018, according to state officials advising the agency on its response to crop damage linked to the weed killer. 

The EPA discussed a deadline for next year's sprayings with state officials last month on a conference call that addressed steps the agency could take to prevent a repeat of the damage, four participants on the call told Reuters News Service recently.It was the latest of at least three such calls the EPA has held with state regulators and experts since late July regarding dicamba-related crop damage and was the first to focus on how to respond to the problem, the participants told Reuters.

 The EPA had no immediate comment. 

A cut-off date for dicamba usage in spring or early summer could protect vulnerable plants by only allowing farmers to spray fields before soybeans emerge from the ground, according to weed and pesticide specialists.In late August, an Arkansas task force advised that state to set a cutoff date of April 15 for 2018 sprayings of agricultural herbicides containing dicamba.