By DANIEL BREEN
State agriculture regulators have once again shifted the rules governing a controversial herbicide that’s been blamed for widespread crop damage.
Members of the Arkansas State Plant Board on Monday voted to change the cutoff date for spraying dicamba, an herbicide used on genetically-modified cotton and soybeans.
The weedkiller, which has been responsible for thousands of complaints of damage in the state, can now be sprayed legally until the end of June, later than last year’s May 25 cutoff. That’s despite research from the University of Arkansas showing the chemical can vaporize at higher temperatures, causing damage to non-tolerant plants.
https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/post/arkansas-state-plant-board-again-loosens-dicamba-restrictions
Leaves of non-tolerant soybeans show signs of dicamba damage at a University of Arkansas research station in Keiser, Ark. in July 2019.
CREDIT DANIEL BREEN / KUAR NEWS