EPA Established Training Requirement, Classified Products as 'Restricted Use' Last Fall

FRANKFORT (January 16, 2018) — The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) has approved federally mandated training sessions for pesticide applicators to apply three products that incorporate the active ingredient dicamba.

Training sessions are being presented by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment and the registrants for the three dicamba products. The KDA will issue applicators that complete the required training a card to use as verification of compliance with the training requirement. The three dicamba-containing products are marketed as Xtendimax (Monsanto), Engenia (BASF), and FeXapan (DuPont).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a new label for the three products last fall that requires applicators to complete state-approved dicamba-specific training for the products and establishes record-keeping requirements, specific instructions on buffers, and clarification on sensitive areas. EPA has classified the three products as “Restricted Use,” meaning individuals purchasing or applying the product must hold a pesticide applicator certification from the KDA.

The 2017 growing season was the first season for in-crop use for the three products for post-emergence broadleaf weed control on dicamba-tolerant soybeans varieties. Although the active ingredient dicamba has been around for many years with a wide range of approved uses, this was the first use of the technology on the newly released dicamba-tolerant varieties.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture regulates the use of pesticides to protect human health and the environment from unreasonable risk. The KDA also makes sure that Kentucky pesticide applicators have the required training and continuing educational opportunities to know how to use registered pesticide product safely and effectively.

A schedule of approved trainings can be found on the KDA website at www.kyagr.com/consumer/documents/ES_TEST_DicambaSpecificTrainingSchedule.pdf.

For more information, contact David Wayne, director of the KDA’s Division of Environmental Services, at david.wayne@ky.gov.