ST. PAUL – Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Acton Township, and other members of House agriculture committees are asking that a new June 20 deadline for the application of dicamba herbicides in farm fields be extended.
The request, filed with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture on Tuesday, follows unusual weather-related events this year. Heavy April snowfalls caused delays in Minnesota’s planting season and then persistent June rains further slowed progress. That has left little to no opportunity for applicators to spray their dicamba-tolerant soybeans this year, the first in which the state’s new June 20 deadline is in place.
“Farmers have a difficult enough time simply dealing with the challenges Mother Nature throws at them,” Urdahl said. “The new state deadline is compounding matters, but bumping back the deadline 10 days is something we actually can control to help relieve pressure farmers are facing this planting season.”
Urdahl and several other House members issued a letter to the Department of Agriculture, formally requesting leeway with the new deadline. The letter states, in part:
“We, as members of the House agriculture committees, ask you to extend the date to allow for the application of dicamba at least through the month of June, to match our neighbor North Dakota, which has a June 30th cut-off date. We would also make it clear that we expect applicators to continue following all requirements on the Federal label, as well as MDA’s prohibition of dicamba application when temperatures exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit.”
The full letter can be viewed at www.house.mn/18a under the “News Items” section.
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