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Arkansas takes next step towards dicamba ban

Arkansas is a step closer to restricting dicamba use next year.

Adriane Barnes with the Arkansas Department of Agriculture says the Pesticide Committee of the Arkansas Plant Board voted Tuesday to recommend rules prohibiting dicamba use after April 15^th. Barnes tells Brownfield the committee’s action is just the first step.  “They will actually bring that recommendation to the full board meeting for the Arkansas State Plant Board set for September 21st.  If it passes there, it will then go into a legislative process which will include a public hearing, approval from the Governor’s office, and then approval from a legislative committee.”

Barnes says normally, the rulemaking process and public hearings would take months to complete but Barnes suspects this might be fast-tracked.  “Because farmers need this for decisions to be made for the 2018 planting season, there’s a good chance that the plant board will work closely with the Governor’s office to expedite that process as much as possible.”

The Arkansas ban was recommended by a Dicamba Task Force of farmers and agribusiness leaders August 26th.

Barnes says as of last Friday, Arkansas has 966 alleged dicamba misuse complaints, which is four times the number of pesticide complaints they usually receive.  She says it will take years to investigate them completely.