Dicamba injury allegations are reaching new heights in some states this year, but -- unlike last year -- EPA is not regularly polling states on their dicamba investigations and experiences this summer. (DTN photo graphic)

ROCKVILLE, Md. (DTN) -- Once again, most major soybean states are dealing with a deluge of dicamba injury allegations this summer, with two states already reporting a record level of complaints.

But, unlike last year, the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs is not getting routine updates from state regulators on these injury reports. Last year, representatives from the federal agency participated in weekly conference calls with state pesticide regulators on dicamba injury complaints and investigative findings throughout the summer and fall. EPA officials also visited multiple states to tour dicamba injury and hold public forums on the topic.

This year, this regular communication and canvassing has dried up.

"We haven't been asked to provide any information to U.S. EPA headquarters," said Doug Owens, chief of the Bureau of Environmental Programs at the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which has fielded more than 450 alleged dicamba injury reports, up nearly 40% from last year and a record for the state. "I know last year, we reported to them every week with weekly conference calls. We're not participating in that this year, and no information has been requested."

This experience was echoed by other states, including Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota. (State regulators from Nebraska did not respond to DTN's inquiries.) While most states are making informal reports on their experience with dicamba to the representatives in their regional office of the EPA, the national Office of Pesticide Programs, which oversees the dicamba registrations, has had little to no direct communications with most state regulators on this issue. Only the Arkansas Department of Agriculture reported sending 2019 injury statistics to EPA headquarters recently.

In an emailed statement to DTN on July 31, an EPA spokesperson said the agency was still working with states to "determine the extent and frequency" of communications on dicamba injury in 2019. But, with the spray season mostly behind them, state regulators told a different story.

Leo Reed, president-elect of the Association of American Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) and pesticide licensing manager for the Office of Indiana State Chemist, said the last time EPA communicated with the Indiana agency on dicamba injury was the previous crop season. "They've not reached out to the state chemist office specifically on that topic since 2018," he said.

At a state regulator meeting in June, members of the State FIFRA Issues Research and Evaluation Group (SFIREG) said EPA had drafted a one-time dicamba survey for states to submit at the end of the 2019 season, in lieu of the weekly calls conducted in 2018. However, state regulators demanded more information on the purpose of the survey, noting that their efforts to communicate dicamba injury to EPA in 2018 had resulted in few substantial changes to the dicamba registrations. Since those concerns were voiced, EPA has been silent on the topic of a survey or any dicamba information-gathering. "We were trying to determine what the results would be -- how will the information we collect be used?" explained Reed. "And no one at EPA responded. And that's the last we heard of that."