Field case studies of Dicamba movement to soybeans
2004
- UW-Madison Dept. of Agronomy
Project Media
Every summer, a small percentage of Wisconsin’s soybean fields have injury, which is generically described as “leaf puckering”. Although the severity of the injury may not be great, the injury generates a lot of concern for the soybean grower. The grower may be concerned that the injury will result in yield loss and/or be concerned over who was responsible for causing the injury. Leaf puckering may be caused by growth regulator herbicides such as dicamba, which is an ingredient in Banvel, Clarity, and several other corn herbicides. These herbicides mimic the plant’s natural hormones and distort new leaf growth. Dicamba is applied to nearly 1 million acres of corn in Wisconsin each year (232,000 lb applied to 0.95 million acres in 2002) (NASS 2003). As a consequence, the potential for dicamba drift or tank contamination is real. However, there have been several other suggested theories for these puckered soybeans.