Endangered Species Designations Put Dicamba Applicators in Tricky Spot

New endangered species designations could put dicamba applicators in a tricky situation if they choose to apply the herbicide in certain counties. At issue is EPA’s buffer requirements. “For the counties with endangered species, the new rules for buffers include a 57-foot omni-directional buffer on all sides of the field, plus a 310-foot downwind buffer,” explained Joe Ikley, weed specialist, NDSU Extension. “In counties without endangered species, we can include other crops like corn, wheat and other dicamba tolerant crops in the buffer. In the counties with endangered species, the only crop we can count is Xtend soybeans.” Dicamba can still be applied if a neighboring field is tilled and the crop has not yet emerged.