Registration of Dicamba for Use on Dicamba-Tolerant Crops

Overview

EPA has approved three dicamba herbicide products for over-the-top use on cotton and soybeans for the next two growing seasons with the strongest environmental protections in agency history.

This decision supports America's farmers while requiring the strictest safeguards EPA has ever mandated for dicamba use.

Supporting Farmers: Cotton and Soybean Growers Need This Tool

Farmers across America's Cotton Belt have been clear: they need over-the-top dicamba to save their crops from resistant weeds.

The Problem They're Facing:

Weeds like Palmer amaranth have become resistant to other herbicides
These "super weeds" can grow 3 inches per day and destroy entire fields
Without effective control during the growing season, farmers face devastating crop losses
Many family farms are at risk without tools to manage these resistant weeds

"Over-the-top" simply means spraying herbicide on cotton and soybean plants while they're actively growing in the field. This timing is critical because it targets weeds when they're most vulnerable. America's farmers have asked for OTT application and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed this tool is essential for American agriculture. President Trump has a longstanding, trusted relationship with America's farmers, and this approval reflects his administration's commitment to ensuring farmers have the tools they need to succeed while protecting rural communities and the environment.

Concerns About Environmental Risks

Ecological risks from pesticide drift are real
Past dicamba applications have caused environmental damage
Strong protections are absolutely necessary

Americans’ concerns about environmental and health impacts are valid. If not carefully protected against, OTT dicamba drift can harm neighboring farms, damage sensitive plants, and impact wildlife and pollinators.

That's exactly why we're imposing the strongest restrictions in EPA history. We have concerns about risks, AND farmers are telling us they need this tool. We've addressed both by requiring unprecedented safeguards.

Setting the Record Straight: Dicamba is Already on the Market

Dicamba is NOT new. In fact, dicamba herbicides are already available and widely used in American agriculture.

This approval is for ONE specific use, over-the-top application on growing cotton and soybeans.

EPA is not introducing a new product or bringing a product back that was gone. Dicamba is already approved for other uses and is currently on the market. However, what is new is the strength of our environmental protections. These are the strictest restrictions EPA has ever required for any dicamba product.

Ecological Risks

The Risks Are Real & EPA is Addressing Them Directly

We're not minimizing the dangers. Off-target movement of dicamba has historically caused real problems:

Damage to neighboring farms and crops
Harm to sensitive plant species
Impacts on pollinators and wildlife
Conflicts between farming communities

What causes these problems:

Drift: Tiny spray droplets blow off-target during application
Volatility: Dicamba can vaporize off crops and can move through the air for several days after application
Runoff: Rain or irrigation carries dicamba off fields into surrounding area.

EPA's approach has created restrictions that target every one of these specific pathways for environmental damage to build a complete system of protections.

The Strongest Protections Ever Required

Comprehensive Safeguards to Prevent Environmental Damage

EPA is requiring an extensive set of protections. Each one is designed to reduce a specific risk.

Reducing the Total Amount in the Environment

Application Rates Cut in Half

Old limit: Up to 2 pounds of dicamba per acre per year
New limit: Maximum 1 pound per acre per year
Why this matters: Less dicamba in the environment means less potential for harm to plants, wildlife, and water

Limited Number of Applications

Only 2 applications allowed per season (down from 4 total applications previously)
Each application limited to 0.5 pounds per acre
Reduces total exposure to the environment

Stopping Volatility

Volatility Protection Doubled

Old requirement: 20 ounces of volatility reduction agent per acre
New requirement: 40 ounces per acre
Why this matters: These agents stop dicamba from turning into vapor and drifting for hours or days after application—one of the main causes of off-target damage

How it works: Volatility reduction agents chemically bind dicamba molecules so they stay where they're sprayed instead of evaporating into the air.

Temperature-Based Restrictions

No Spraying in Hot Weather

Completely banned: When temperature will reach 95°F or higher
Severely limited: When temperature will be 85-95°F (can only spray 50% of untreated acres, must wait 2 days before treating remaining acres)
Why this matters: Heat dramatically increases volatility and drift risk

Mandatory Conservation Practices

Required on Every Treated Field

Farmers must use proven conservation methods like buffer strips, cover crops, reduced soil tillage, or contour farming
Must earn at least 3 mitigation "points" from EPA's conservation practices menu; in areas with endangered species, 6 points required
Why this matters: These practices physically prevent dicamba from leaving fields in runoff or eroded soil

Examples of conservation practices:

Vegetative buffer strips along field edges
Cover crops that hold soil in place
Contour farming that slows water flow
Grassed waterways that filter runoff

Physical Barriers and Buffers

240-Foot Downwind Safety Buffer

No spraying within 240 feet of the downwind edge of the field
Creates physical distance between application and vulnerable areas
Buffer can only be reduced if additional protections are used (like hooded sprayers)

Proximity Protections

Cannot spray if dicamba-sensitive crops or plants are in downwind areas
Protects neighboring farms and natural areas
List of sensitive plants provided on every label

Weather and Timing Restrictions

When Spraying Is Prohibited:

During temperature inversions (atmospheric condition that traps chemicals near the ground)
Within 48 hours before expected rain
When soil is saturated with water
Within 1 hour after sunrise or after 2 hours before sunset
Why each matters: Each condition is known to increase drift or off-target movement

Wind Requirements

Wind Must Be Just Right

Required wind speed: 3-10 mph
Too calm (below 3 mph): Creates risk of temperature inversions
Too strong (above 10 mph): Increases drift
Why this matters: Proper wind conditions help keep spray on target

Application Technique Requirements

Large Droplets Required

Must use "coarse or coarser" spray droplets
Larger, heavier droplets fall quickly to the target instead of drifting

Low Spray Height

Spray release must be no higher than 2 feet above ground or crop canopy
Reduces distance droplets can drift before reaching target

Drift Reduction Agents

Required in every tank mix
Creates larger, heavier droplets less likely to drift

Aerial Application Banned

No crop dusting or helicopter spraying allowed
Ground application only reduces drift risk

Tank Mixing Prohibition

Cannot mix with ammonium sulfate products
These products can increase volatility

Training and Certification

Only Trained Professionals

Dicamba is a Restricted Use Pesticide
Only certified applicators can use it
Annual training required for all applicators
Why this matters: Ensures applications are made by people who understand the risks and rules

Worker Protection

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Required for loaders, mixers, handlers, and applicators
Reduces direct contact with the product

24-Hour Restricted Entry

No one can re-enter treated fields for 24 hours
Protects workers and the public from exposure

Recordkeeping

Documentation Required for Every Application

Must record every detail of each application
Proves compliance with all label requirements
Creates accountability trail
Enables enforcement

Enforcement and Accountability

The label is the law. Every restriction on the label is a legal requirement under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). These aren't suggestions or guidelines, they're enforceable mandates with real consequences for those who violate them.

Violators face civil fines for failing to follow label directions, and knowing violations can result in criminal prosecution. Both EPA and state enforcement agencies actively monitor compliance and take violations seriously. When violations occur, they will be investigated and prosecuted, demonstrating the seriousness with which we treat these environmental and safety requirements.

Limited Approval with Ongoing Monitoring

This approval is limited to the 2026 and 2027 growing seasons only. This is not a permanent registration. This limited timeframe gives us a clear checkpoint to evaluate how these protections are working in the real world. During these two seasons, we'll be closely monitoring incident reports of off-target damage, environmental monitoring data, compliance with label requirements, and the real-world performance of all restrictions.

After two growing seasons, EPA will comprehensively review all collected data. Based on that evidence, we will either allow continued use with current or stronger restrictions, adjust restrictions based on what we've learned, or revoke approval entirely if the protections aren't working as intended.

If new information emerges showing that risks aren't adequately controlled, EPA has the authority to act immediately.

Our Scientific Review Process

Gold-Standard Science and Radical Transparency

From day one of this review, EPA committed to gold-standard science and radical transparency. We conducted a thorough pesticide evaluation, using the best available data and reviewing hundreds of publicly available independent, peer-reviewed studies and real-world field results to conduct a comprehensive human health and ecological risk assessment. This included research from health advocates, academic experts, and non-industry sources showing potential links between high occupational exposures and certain cancers. While these studies involved pesticide applicators with decades of intensive exposure, not typical consumers, EPA took these studies seriously, carefully considered them in our risk assessments, and built extra protections into the registration to reduce worker contact with the product.

EPA's analysis found no unreasonable risk to human health and the environment from OTT dicamba use when applied according to label directions. However, EPA recognizes that previous drift issues created legitimate concerns, and designed these new label restrictions to directly address them, including cutting the amount of dicamba that can be used annually in half, doubling required safety agents, requiring conservation practices to protect endangered species, and restricting applications during high temperatures when exposure and volatility risks increase.

This determination supports a time limited approval covering only the next two growing seasons and will be subject to further review.