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The NDSU Extension weekly podcast In the Pod: Soybean Updates delivers timely insights and expert advice on soybean production.
You're listening to In The Pod, soybean updates, a weekly trek into the latest soybean information from NDSU Extension. Weed control in soybean may be a bit easier this year because of a dicamba label release. Joe Ikley, NDSU Extension weed specialist, has the details. Joe, what's the latest with the dicamba label release?
Joe Ikley:So on Friday, February 6, the US EPA announced that we will have dicamba registration for over the top use in soybean once again in the 2026 growing season. So there'll be three labeled products. One from Bayer called Striax, one from BASF called Ingenia, and then Syngenta has a product called Tavium, which is a premixture that also includes esmetolachlor or dual magnum. So this is important because in the 2025 growing season, we did not have dicamba labels because those labels got revoked during the 2024 growing season. So for those folks who like to use dicamba in the soybean system, those options are now back on the table.
Bruce Sundeen:As far as access to dicamba, what's the history been like?
Joe Ikley:2017 was the first year we had dicamba registered for use over the top in dicamba tolerant soybean. And really since then, it's kind of been this yo yo of we have a label, we don't. We have a label, we don't because there's been lawsuits along the way that get these labels revoked. Part of this is because dicamba as a whole has some volatility. So if we apply it during hot conditions, it can vaporize later in the move off target. Newer formulations, newer science behind how we're applying it now has largely addressed many of those issues. It's still kind of tied around with that molecule. For now, EPA is pretty confident in the labels this time around, and looks like we will definitely have these products in 2026 and 2027.
Bruce Sundeen:So are there any catches in this release?
Joe Ikley:So there are several catches, and maybe I'll back up a little bit more on on history of dicamba use in general. We use this product in a lot of other areas beyond soybean. We use it in corn every year, some use in small grains, pasture, rangeland. We use it regularly in home lawns. But this use in soybean is is kind of a higher use rate than we use in in many of those other settings. And because of the demand for using it in soybean, because of lack of good weed control with some of the other options on the market, this is why we continue to try and bring it back and and make sure it's available for use in soybean. So that's one of first things. You have to be trained to handle, mix, or apply it. There will be mandatory training, teaching you the label how to use it. No trainings are available to date. We do not know of any trainings available yet. They are coming. It is a restricted use pesticide. So for folks who use things like atrazine or paraquat on the herbicide realm, plenty of other insecticides are restricted to use, so you need to be licensed. And then there is a very long list on it. It will be two pages worth of bullet points to hit the high points of what we need to know. Environmental conditions apply only during these wind conditions. Pay attention to temperature inversions. What's new on the labels this go around is over 95 degrees is a no apply. When it's less than 95 degrees, and there are some certain stipulations about adjuvants you have to add to the tank, how much of your acreage you can apply it to. There's a table on these labels that will be covered during trainings. There are additionals. These are some of the first herbicides registered after the EPA adopted the herbicide strategy, which is meant to protect endangered species and and follow the endangered species act. So what does this mean? That means we have to protect potential runoff issues. So when you apply it to a field, get a rainfall event and some products can move off target that way. So there is a point system you have to know within your field. Things like, are you no till production? Do you have grass buffers around the field? Add up to a certain number of points. So it's complicated the first time you go through it, but it's a relatively simplified process compared to two years ago when we were talking about it, and it seemed more complex. So you need to account for your points to manage runoff. Drift is another point of consideration. So there will be some downwind buffers that need to be built into these applications within the field. There are points that you can add on to reduce that buffer area. So it's another one of these large tables within the label that will be covered during training. And that's really what these trainings will be about, just making sure you know all the things you need to document when you make an application to make sure you're doing it legally and and are okay.
Bruce Sundeen:Joe, how will farmers know when the trainings are available?
Joe Ikley:If you plan to purchase and apply these products, very good chance that you will hear from the manufacturer directly that, okay, you're going to apply these products. Here's when the trainings are. Odds are what will happen is the manufacturers will give us a list of training dates or a webinar platform that you can sign up for and do on your own. So, basically, if you're purchasing it, you should know. If you pay attention to the airwaves that we're on, you should also know once we know.
Bruce Sundeen:Thanks, Joe. Our guest has been Joe Ikley, NDSU Extension weeds specialist. You're listening to In The Pod, soybean updates, a weekly trek into the latest soybean information from NDSU Extension supported by the North Dakota Soybean Council.