In an interview with Brownfield Ag News, Iowa State University weed scientist Bob Hartzler said dicamba injury is more extensive this summer than any he has seen.
“And it’s from fence-row to fence-row in those fields,” Hartzler says. “So you can’t see where the source came from as the injury dissipates as you move across the field-and that’s the type of injury we’ve never seen before.”
Hartzler sees several reasons for the increase in dicamba damage, he says the two biggest things are both corn and soybean fields being sprayed at the same time and more dicamba applied during a more narrow timeframe. It is too early to tell if the injured fields will feel the effects.
“In a lot of fields, probably the majority of the fields, the yield is not going to be impacted,” Hartzler said. “But, in my mind, that’s still not a reason to say, ‘this is okay.’”
Hartzler also has thoughts on how to reduce dicamba damage,b including better drift management and new formulations mandated for use on corn.