The Good & Bad with No-Till Herbicides

When it comes to making last-minute decisions on weed control in your no-till crops this year, there are plenty of government concerns. Here’s a rundown on a few herbicide items to consider when it comes to updating the 2024 weed control program in your no-tilled fields.

1. In early February, a federal district court judge in Arizona ruled that in 2020 EPA unlawfully reapproved the use of three dicamba herbicide compounds for over-the-top use on dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton. Since the original registration of dicamba in 2017, there have been problems with drift issues and damage to crops that can’t tolerate the chemical.

The ruling could impact potential use of Bayer’s XtendiMax, BASF’s Engenia and Syngenta’s Tavium in 2024 on as many as 50 million acres of cotton and soybeans. Numerous farm groups have asked EPA to find a way to vacate the ruling because thousands of growers have already placed dicamba and herbicide-tolerant seed.

A key question is whether the EPA will react quickly enough to reauthorize dicamba once again for over-the-top usage in the upcoming growing season. If the dicamba ban is enforced by the federal government, some university weed scientists anticipate that no-tillers will turn to using more Liberty herbicide as a replacement for dicamba.

2. In the latest report from its ongoing routine 15-year review on paraquat usage, the EPA has not found a scientific link between the application of paraquat and Parkinson’s disease in humans. The herbicide that pioneered the no-till movement back in the 1960s is still used for fast burndown of existing weeds, to control troublesome marestail and to interrupt the continuous glyphosate cycle.

3. Across the Atlantic Ocean, the European Union recently scrapped a proposal to reduce pesticide use by 50% by 2030. So the good news is that more extensive pesticide regulation is on hold in most European countries.

4. With the EPA evaluating potential new atrazine regulations, no-tillers need to pay careful attention to what is numerous environmental groups are proposing in terms of more extensive regulation. A highly popular herbicide used for decades by no-tillers, atrazine is currently registered for use in more than 90 tankmixes.

As a result of these herbicide changes, it may pay for you to take another look at plans for controlling weeds in your no-till fields this year.