Weed Scientist: Dicamba Label Too Complex?
August 22, 2017 
With Monsanto Co’s latest flagship weed killer, dicamba, banned in Arkansas and under review by U.S. regulators over concerns it can drift in the wind, farmers and weed scientists are also complaining that confusing directions on the label make the product hard to use safely, reports Reuters’ Tom Polansek and Karl Plume.
Dicamba, sold under different brand names by BASF and DuPont, can vaporize under certain conditions and the wind can blow it into nearby crops and other plants. The herbicide can damage or even kill crops that have not been genetically engineered to resist it.
To prevent that from happening, Monsanto created a 4,550-word label with detailed instructions. Its complexity is now being cited by farmers and critics of the product. It was even singled out in a lawsuit as evidence that Monsanto’s product may be virtually impossible to use properly.
At stake for Monsanto is the fate of Xtend soybeans, it largest ever biotech seed launch.
To read the rest of Polansek and Plume’s report head on over to Reuters.com.
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