THE EPA SOUGHT public comments in April regarding the use of dicamba herbicide with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans and Bollgard II XtendFlex cotton.

Submission for comments ended April 30. The EPA will review all comments and reach a final decision in late summer or early fall.

Currently it is legal for growers to plant the tolerant soybeans and cotton, but remains a violation of federal and state law to make an in-crop application of any dicamba herbicide on them.

The soybean trait has been approved for import into China and other major U.S. soybean export markets, but final approval of the European Union was still pending as this issue went to print.

IN OTHER NO-TILL NEWS…

• Woods End Laboratories released Solvita Soil Master, a field toolkit to test carbon dioxide respiration as naturally as possible with fresh soil samples. The company says measuring soil respiration that is not dried and ground up can provide vital information regarding a soil’s natural behavior.
• Helm Agro US announced the expanded availability of its Zone herbicide for broadleaf weed control in soybeans. Zone is a pre-mix of sulfentrazone and chlorimuron ethyl.
• The EPA approved Absolute Maxx fungicide from Bayer CropScience for use on corn and winter wheat in the Great Plains. Containing a triazole and strobilurin, it helps limit fungal diseases such as gray leaf spot, southern rust, northern corn leaf blight and stripe rust.
• John Deere introduced John Deere Mobile RTK Signal. The cellular RTK signal correction eliminates the line-of-sight…