Dicamba training is well under way across the state.  As of last week we have had over 1500 applicators who have taken the dicamba training.  That should be about 60% of the total number of folks that will need to take this training. Please remember if you’re the operator of the sprayer you must go through the dicamba training.  Moreover, in Tennessee you must also be a Certified Pesticide Applicator to apply dicamba.

It is clear to me that once again in 2018 Tennessee will plant a large majority of Xtend cotton.  The change will be that the herbicide trait platform for soybean will move from roughly 60% Xtend in 2017 to greater than 80% Xtend this year.

My concern is that we have fields in this state where we have no business spraying any form of dicamba in June or July. These would be fields near high value crops like tobacco, vineyards, greenhouses and vegetable production. Continue reading →