There’s a growing sense of unease among pesticide officials and retailers dealing with a third straight year of off-target movement of dicamba onto nearby crops and other vegetation.

Declaring that dicamba "is a valuable pest control tool for America’s farmers,” EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced Wednesday, Oct. 31 the agency was extending by two years the conditional registration for the herbicide to be used "over the top" to control weeds in dicamba-resistant soybeans and cotton.

The Environmental Protection Agency failed to take into account the risks associated with dicamba before allowing Monsanto's Xtendimax formulation of the herbicide to be used for the 2017 growing season, lawyers for environmental groups and small family farms told a federal appeals court Wednesday.

An Arkansas state court judge has thrown out Monsanto's lawsuit against the Arkansas State Plant Board that challenged an April 16-Oct. 31 ban on dicamba this growing season.

A group of Arkansas state legislators has approved a ban on dicamba use between April 16 and Oct. 31 of this year, meaning that soybean and cotton growers will not be able to use Monsanto's Xtendimax or BASF's Engenia for over-the-top applications.

The Arkansas State Plant Board voted 10-3 Wednesday to ban dicamba use between April 16 and Oct. 31 next year, a move that was fiercely opposed by Monsanto, which sells dicamba-tolerant seed and a low-volatility dicamba herbicide designed to kill Roundup-resistant weeds.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2017 – EPA has added new conditions for dicamba use in the 2018 growing season in response to widespread damage to soybeans attributed to the herbicide this year. The changes, which were proposed by manufacturers, will allow continued “over the top” use of the herbicide on cotton and soybeans in 34 states.