The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a new, time-limited registration for over-the-top (OTT) dicamba use for the 2026 and 2027 growing seasons. This decision will allow farmers in 34 states to use the herbicide on dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton, following a 2024 court ruling that had previously vacated its use.
With long-standing concerns regarding drift and volatility, the EPA has implemented what it calls the “strongest protections in agency history.”
The reapproval includes:
Rate Reductions: The maximum annual application rate is cut in half, from 2.0 lbs to 1.0 lb of dicamba per acre.
Volatility Agents: The required amount of Volatility Reduction Agents (VRA) has been doubled to 40 oz/acre for every application.
Temperature Limits: Applications are prohibited if the forecasted temperature is at or above 95°F on the day of or day after spraying.
Conservation Practices: Growers must meet mandatory runoff and erosion mitigation requirements to protect endangered species.
Application Restrictions: Aerial applications remain prohibited, and a 240-foot downwind spray drift buffer is required.
Agricultural groups like the National Cotton Council and American Soybean Association praised the decision for providing certainty for the 2026 season. Conversely, environmental groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity have condemned the move, arguing the new measures are insufficient to prevent widespread damage to non-target crops and ecosystems.
According to research, the drift has damaged millions of acres of farmland and caused damage to orchards, vegetable farms, home gardens, native plants, trees, and wildlife refuges across the country, Center for Food Safety reported.
“Dicamba drift damage threatens farmers’ livelihoods and tears apart rural communities,” Bill Freese, science director at Center for Food Safety, said. “And these are farmers and communities already reeling from Trump’s ICE raids on farmworkers, the trade war shutdown of soybean exports to China, and Trump’s bailout of Argentina, whose farmers are selling soybeans to the Chinese—soybeans China used to buy from American growers.”
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