MerschMedia: News Affecting You

Dicamba-resistant waterhemp in states like Tennessee is not a surprise, as University of Tennessee (UT) weed scientists have been monitoring it for some time. In the article below, Larry Steckel, UT Extension weed specialist, and Delaney Foster, a UT graduate research assistant, detail the spread of dicamba-resistant waterhemp. Weed scientists in Illinois have also confirmed dicamba-resistant waterhemp in that state. Click here to read more.

Big change is afoot. Those soybeans growing in your fields have traditionally been valued by the meal they produce and animals they feed. Soon their oil content could pad your pocketbook.  Click here to read more.

EPA is actively reviewing how the new dicamba labels performed this summer and is alarmed at the levels of injury reports surfacing from some states, EPA Deputy Press Secretary Tim Carroll told DTN in an email. The review could prompt label changes, if necessary, Carroll wrote. “EPA is extremely concerned about these reports and is taking steps to better understand the nature and severity of these incidents in order to assess the sufficiency of the mitigations in the 2020 decision and, as necessary,…

Just weeks after the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals banned the herbicide dicamba in June 2020, Bayer prepared an outline for the Environmental Protection Agency to reinstate its controversial weed killer, federal documents show. Bayer had submitted an application for registration on July 3. Over the next few months, as more than 50 EPA employees worked to re-register the pesticide, the EPA and Bayer stayed in contact, communicating over multiple versions of the label, up until just hours before the new label was announced. Click here…

Brazilian soy lobby Aprosoja, which represents some 240,000 farmers, has expressed concern about use of a genetically modified soybean seed technology resistant to the herbicide dicamba, according to a statement on Tuesday. The fresh concerns with the weed killer, which faced hurdles in U.S. courts but was cleared by the Environmental Protection Agency https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-dicamba/u-s-approves-use-of-bayer-weed-killer-for-five-years-idUSKBN27C31X for five years in 2020, come ahead of Brazil's soybean season, starting next month in top growing state Mato Grosso. Click here to read more.

The recent, heavy rain events are likely to bring on Phytophthora root and stem rot symptoms (see images). In an effort to improve Phytophthora root and stem rot management, we are conducting a survey to identify races (pathotypes) of Phytophthora sojae. If you would like to submit a soil sample, please include: One gallon of soil sampled from at least 10 different parts of a field known to have a history of Phytophthora root and stem rot. GPS coordinates of the field so we can map…