As reports of dicamba damage increase across the country, Stine founder and CEO Harry Stine has been candid in his conversations about the herbicide injury growers are seeing and the falsehoods that are spreading about the true culprit. While we still have a lot of samples from multiple fields that are still processing, we can confirm that elevated levels of dicamba are present in the results we have received thus far.
In late June, various test samples were taken from a field north of Knoxville, Iowa, and submitted to the South Dakota Agricultural Laboratories. The results detected just one chemistry present on the samples — dicamba, which registered 2.66 ppb. Stine RSA Dustin Ellis notes, “This field was one of the first fields that I was called about toward the end of June and is north of Knoxville. The entire farm was cupped. Even today, you can still see the new growth with little cupping, which is one characteristic of dicamba.”
Samples from two fields near Lindsay, Nebraska, also came back with elevated levels of dicamba, with 10.2 ppb of dicamba registered in one and 8.81 ppb in the other. No other chemistries were detected in the foliage samples.
As we test more fields throughout the country, we’ll continue to report our findings. If these early test results are any indicator, dicamba is undoubtedly the culprit of the damage we’re seeing in our fields.
As a reminder, Stine growers who are experiencing suspected dicamba damage in their fields are eligible for free sampling through Stine. Contact your local Stine sales rep if you suspect dicamba in your fields.