Arkansas panel adopts date for dicamba spraying in 2020

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas panel has set a cutoff date for farmers to spray an herbicide next year but abandoned two proposals that critics say would be too expensive.

The Arkansas State Plant Board voted in a public hearing Wednesday that farmers have until May 25 to spray dicamba.

The board also allowed the use of dicamba through May 25 this year, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. Opponents argued for an April 15 cutoff date to protect other crops and native vegetation. But some farmers said they wanted a longer period to spray, at least deeper until June, when pigweed, now resistant to other herbicides, is threatening crop fields.