Howdy all, 

I'd like to share this notice from our local USDA office on the NRCS Local Working Group meeting to be held on February 19, 2019.

Auxin Trainings

Howdy,

If anyone needs an additional Certified Crop Advisor CEU, read this article and take the quiz linked in the article.

If you need auxin herbicide trainings, check out the information below.

Series of auxin herbicide trainings for area producers set for February - April

By Corrie Bowen

County Extension Agent

Wharton County

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will conduct a series of Auxin Trainings for producers in the Wharton and Matagorda County area from February – April 2019.  This special, annual training that was required  last year for the new dicamba formulations applied on tolerant cotton and soybean crops,  will now be a two-hour training.  In addition to the EPA mandated dicamba applicator training, the Texas Department of Agriculture has added 2,4-D Choline formulations (Enlist Duo® and Enlist One) for use on 2,4-D tolerant crops to be included in the annual mandatory auxin trainings. The two hour 2019 mandated Auxin Training will include the following topics:  1) why do auxin herbicides require additional precautions, 2) label requirements for approved auxin formulations, 3) understanding temperature inversions, 4) spray system hygiene, 5) record keeping, and 6) using dicamba and 2,4-D in a weed management system. 

The extended dicamba labels for 2019-2020 include changes to ensure the new dicamba technology products continue to be used effectively and to address concerns about off-target movement.  New for 2019-2020, dicamba technology herbicide applications will be limited to certified applicators only.  Some of these new changes may be different before the 2019 growing season pending 24C requests that have been submitted to the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA).  Upon approval, the 24c labels will be available on the Texas Department of Ag website (www.texasagriculture.gov/RegulatoryPrograms/Pesticides).

The Enlist products are State Limited Use pesticides in Texas.  In contrast to the dicamba technology products, the Enlist products can be sold to and used by certified applicators or those working under the supervision of a certified applicator. 

The training is not required for those using range and pasture labeled dicamba and/or 2,4-D products.  The Auxin Specific Herbicide training is an annual training.  Completion of the annual Auxin training is not required to purchase seed or chemistry, it is only required annually, prior to applying Engenia, Xtendimax, Fexapan, EnlistOne and/or EnlistDuo  herbicides.  

The Wharton and Matagorda County Extension Offices have arranged a series of dates, times and locations for the Extension Auxin trainings.  Pick a date and time that is conducive to your schedule:

February 21, 2019	2:00 P - 4:00 P	Matagorda County Extension Office
February 28, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Wharton County Extension Office
March 7, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Wharton County Extension Office
March 21, 2019	2:00 P - 4:00 P	Matagorda County Extension Office
March 28, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Wharton County Extension Office
April 4, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Matagorda County Extension Office
April 11, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Wharton County Extension Office
April 18, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Northside Education Center—El Campo
April 25, 2019	9:00 A - 11:00 A	Matagorda County Extension Office

Each program will last two hours and will provide two (2) Texas Department of Agriculture laws and regulations continuing education units (CEUs) and will meet the annual Auxin training requirement for 2019.  An applicator or operator must attend only one of these available trainings in 2019.  We reached 148 pesticide applicators at the Feed Grain and Cotton Conference with the required Auxin training, however, there will be more cotton and soybean producers who will need to complete this annual training.  Therefore, we’re providing these nine trainings through April 25th.  We’ll continue to provide these trainings through the growing season as needed .  A flyer for this series of Auxin Trainings can be found at http://wharton.agrilife.org  For any questions regarding the Auxin trainings, contact Corrie Bowen at 979-532-3310 or Aaron Sumrall at 979-245-4100.

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