With the weather starting to change, we know spring is just right around the corner.  That means spray season is coming quickly.  IFCA has been working very hard to make sure dicamba application in 2018 is an improvement over last year.  As of last week, the Illinois training classes facilitated by IFCA with trainers from BASF, Monsanto and Corteva (fomerly DowDuPont) have provided certified training to over 9,000 private and commercial applicators and operators.  March is the final month for classroom training so please help spread the word that the number of available classroom opportunities is shrinking.  If you apply dicamba to soybeans in 2018 and fail to get the certified training, you are in violation of the Illinois Pesticide Act.  Part of the record of application is providing proof that you attended a dicamba training course.  

 

Click Here to see the remaining classes in March and to register for a class.  There is no charge to attend.  
 
Yesterday, the IL Dept of Ag shared the statistics on pesticide misuse investigations in 2017.  Here are the figures: 
 
430 Total Misuse Cases
 
Out of 430 Cases, 246 were dicamba related
 
35 Cases are closed with no finding of misapplication
 
212 warning letters were issued
 
14 monetary penalties were issued:

7 out of the 14 were for not having a valid pesticide license (mostly lawn care related).  Of the other 7 monetary penalties they included these: 
           4 - $750 Fines (all ag)
           2 - $1,000 Fines (all ag)
           1 - $250 Fine (lawn care)

 

If you have questions about the pesticide misuse process, please give us a call at IFCA and we can help.  Please also refer to the Resources section of the Dicamba Training Website for materials that can help you prepare for the upcoming applciation season, including recordkeeping forms, University Bulletins offering guidance, advice on keeping weather records and the IFCA BMPs for dicamba use.