By Mary Hightower
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Brigit Rollins weighs in on the dicamba labels for 2026. (UADA file photo)
Fast Facts
- 2026 dicamba labels add temperature cutoffs, reduce maximum application rates
- Registration for over-the-top dicamba is for two years
- Delayed dicamba registration had limited effect on seed purchases, herbicide availability
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued new labels for use of over-the-top dicamba products in tolerant soybeans and cotton that include temperature-based application limits, as well as actions to reduce volatility and runoff.
In its announcement, EPA acknowledged the battle farmers face with herbicide-resistant weeds, concerns about public health, as well as drift and volatility.
The labels are “a time limited approval covering only the next two growing seasons and will be subject to further review,” EPA said.
Brigit Rollins, staff attorney with the National Agricultural Law Center, said that EPA’s action isn’t the first approval under its new policy driven by the Endangered Species Act, but “I do think this will be one of the ones that gets a lot of major attention.”
“Glyphosate and dicamba are definitely headline-getters,” she said.
The EPA can issue conditional or unconditional registrations. An unconditional registration is 15 years. This year’s dicamba registration is conditional, “with the understanding that more data is needed before the EPA can make that an unconditional registration,” Rollins said.
The EPA issued two-year conditional registrations for dicamba products in 2016 and 2018. In 2020, EPA issued a five-year conditional registration. However, the 2020 registration was vacated by an Arizona federal court in 2024.
New restrictions
The new labels retained more than a dozen restrictions from a previous label that include downwind buffers, wind speed and droplet size requirements, while adding four new restrictions for the 2026 registration:
- Maximum application rate cut in half: A maximum of two applications of 0.5 pounds of dicamba per acre may be made annually, for a maximum of 1.0 pound of all dicamba products annually. The 2020 registration permitted up to four applications of 0.5 pounds/acre for a total of 2.0 pounds of dicamba annually.
- Doubled volatility reduction agents: 40 ounces per acre of approved volatility reduction agent must be added to every application.
- Mandatory conservation practices: Growers must achieve three runoff/erosion mitigation points from EPA’s certified conservation practices menu on each treated field to protect endangered and threatened species. In some geographically-specific pesticide use limitation areas where especially vulnerable species require additional safeguards, six points are required. These practices, such as vegetative buffers and cover crops, physically prevent dicamba from moving off-field in runoff or eroded soil, protecting waterways and habitats.
- Temperature-based application limits: For applications occurring on a day with a forecasted temperature between 85-95 degrees Fahrenheit on the day of or the day after application, a user may only treat up to 50 percent of their untreated dicamba-tolerant cotton and soybean acres in a county. Remaining dicamba-tolerant cotton and soybean acres may not be treated until at least two days after the initial application. This reduces risk during conditions when volatility and drift are elevated. No applications may occur if the temperature is forecasted to be at or above 95 degrees Fahrenheit on the day of or the day after a planned application, eliminating applications during the highest-risk conditions.
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