Illegal use of dicamba this past summer — which resulted in thousands of soybean acres and many acres of other crops damaged in Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee — shows just how desperate some growers were to control herbicide-resistant weeds.

But the EPA has now approved two new dicamba formulations for the 2017 growing season: BASF’s Engenia and Monsanto’s XtendiMax.

Both herbicides have a lower rate of volatility than older formulations and can be used for in-crop application of dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton, and promise control of some of the toughest glyphosate-resistant broadleaf weeds.

But Aaron Hager fears there’s already a perception these new herbicides will do what Roundup did when it first entered the market.

“This is just another tool,” the University of Illinois weed scientist says. “It seems the perception by many farmers is that this is going to be the solution. And the fact of the matter is, that is a bit more optimistic than what reality is going to show.”

Where They Fit

Both products can be used for pre-planting, pre-emergence and post-emergence, but Chad Asmus, BASF’s technical marketing manager for herbicides, recommends that soybean growers save Engenia for their post program.

“Options are fairly limited for post-emergence broadleaf weed control in soybeans,” he says. “There are a number of proven and effective herbicides already on the marketplace for no-tillers to use in their spring burndown, thereby leaving Engenia and the dicamba site of action available for post-emerge use.”

Monsanto also encourages no-tillers to incorporate other herbicides…