Jeff Spruill was allowed to apply dicamba on Asgrow Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans this year.

Spruill is farm manager for Black Gold Farms in Columbia, NC. He is one of 33 farmers in five states – North Carolina, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota – who were given approval to plant one trial plot of Asgrow Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans and use an over-the-top-application of dicamba this year as part of Monsanto’s Ground Breakers program.

Spruill had approval to spay XtendiMax with VaporGrip technology, a dicamba formulation from Monsanto currently pending regulatory approval from the EPA. In an interview with Southeast Farm Press, Spruill says he would like to use the system on all of his soybeans next year if EPA clears it for commercial use.

“Pigweed is our biggest problem in northeast North Carolina and the technology really worked for us. We had good weed control and our crop is clean. This is technology we really need and I’m anxious for a full system label,” Spruill says.

Until EPA grants approval, it is a violation of federal and state law to make an in-crop application of any dicamba herbicide product on Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans; no dicamba product is currently approved for those uses. Once EPA gives the greenlight, Monsanto officials are optimistic the system will draw the interest of farmers who want to control Palmer amaranth and other problem weeds in their soybeans.

“The EPA has publicly stated it expects to complete its review and issue in-crop use approvals by late summer or early fall 2016. Pending regulatory approvals, we are looking forward to a fully enabled system in 2017,” says Kyel Richard, product communications lead for Monsanto. “It is important to note, at this time, no dicamba formulation is registered for in-crop use in Bollgard II XtendFlex Cotton or Roundup Ready 2 Xtend Soybeans.”

This year, Spruill planted the variety Asgrow AG 53X6, a Group 5.3 soybean, on 160 acres in Tyrrell County near Columbia. He planted his soybeans on June 18 following Irish potatoes and plans to harvest his soybeans in October. He is hopeful for a good harvest if the weather continues to cooperate.

“This variety looks really good and the plot looks great. There’s not a single pigweed to be found,” Spruill said on Aug. 9.

He points out that AG 53X6 clearly has good genetics, showing strong emergence, early season vigor and good plant health. He said it looks good as a double-crop with Irish potatoes.

Spruill worked closely with David Brickhouse with Cherry Farms Seed Company in Columbia in the Monsanto Groundbreakers program this year. Black Gold Farms sells all of its soybeans to Cherry Farms for seed and high quality is the driving force in producing seed soybeans. Both Spruill and Brickhouse have zero tolerance for pigweeds in their seed soybean fields.

Right now, Spruill says the only way to get rid of resistant pigweed is to bring in 50 to 60 people and pull the weeds by hand. In his Ground Breakers test plot, hand pulling of weeds wasn’t necessary.

In the 160-acre test plot, Spruill sprayed one application of Roundup mixed with dicamba over the top 21 days after the June 18 planting date. That was the only herbicide application he made on the test plot. “We got great control. There were no weeds. The field is clean,” Spruill says.

Brickhouse notes that the application was made beginning at 11:30 a.m., which is a good time to avoid drift but with still enough wind speed for the application to be effective. He points out that a wind speed of about three to five miles per hour works best for effective application.

Both Spruill and Brickhouse emphasize the importance of being good stewards when applying dicamba. “We told our neighbors what we were doing and kept them informed,” Spruill says.

Brickhouse adds that other farmers have expressed a strong desire to be able to apply dicamba to their soybeans. He has worked with six different growers in the Ground Breakers program for the past three years and notes that all six say they would like to use the technology once it is approved by EPA.

“All of them who have used it have been well pleased. Pigweed is a big problem and this works. They all say they would use it again if they should have the opportunity,” Brickhouse says. “We need to find new ways to control pigweed.”

Jeff Spruill inspects his 160 acre Ground Breakers test plot where the variety Asgrow AG 53X6 was planted on June 18 and one application of a dicamba/Roundup mix was applied 21 days after planting. Spruill notes that not a single pigweed was found in the field.