by Zach Hinsch  ZachH@agpartners.net

First off, Happy Holidays and hope everyone got what they were wishing for over this past Christmas weekend!

An important agronomic update in recent headlines is new regulations regarding dicamba application. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture announced a new cutoff date and cutoff temperature. The cutoff date to apply dicamba on soybeans is June 20th and applications are prohibited when the temperature or forecasted temperature for the day is above 85 degrees Fahrenheit. This past year there was not a cutoff date nor temperature, but similar to the cutoff date we could only apply up to the R2 stage (which is typically towards the beginning of July). Another new regulation is all applicators will have to attend a federal dicamba training to apply the herbicide. There will be more information to come on when these trainings when available. Since the dicamba label is constantly changing I would advise familiarizing yourself with it as we get closer to applying it.

A tip to keep in mind during the holiday season here while we are seeing family and friends is to educate them about agriculture. Consumers are becoming more interested in how their food is grown and it is going to be a challenge to keep them informed on how we do things. Thank you for your cooperation on this as it helps everyone in the agriculture industry have choices.