AFR seeks later dicamba application deadline/

OKLAHOMA CITY – American Farmers & Ranchers Cooperative is requesting a 30-day extension on the application deadline for the herbicide dicamba. The Environmental Protection Agency’s current application cutoff dates are June 30 for soybeans and July 30 for cotton.

The EPA set the new nationwide cutoff dates for dicamba application last fall, without knowing future weather patterns or planting conditions, AFR said in a news release. Now, several states are pushing to extend those deadlines to accommodate late planting caused by either drought or heavy late spring rainfall, depending on the region.

This combination of delayed planting and preset application deadlines has caused dicamba to be virtually unusable, according to the news release.

“This is absolutely not the right year to implement new dicamba application cutoff dates,” said AFR President Scott Blubaugh. “Much of the country is experiencing significant drought; the remaining crop production regions have experienced heavy rainfall. Both have played a part in delaying planting of the 2021 soybean and cotton crops.

“Because of this planting delay, the new EPA deadlines will prevent or severely limit the use of dicamba. Preventing the use of this technology unnecessarily handicaps Oklahoma’s farmers and will certainly reduce their ability to produce a viable crop. It is clear that applying arbitrary deadlines in this year of extremes is a recipe for food insecurity and market instability that could be easily avoided.”