Contact: Donna Gilson, 608-224-5130, donna.gilson@wi.gov
Jim Dick, Communications Director 608-224-5020, jim.dick@wi.gov
MADISON – The public can comment until April 12 on proposed special registration of a pesticide to be used on dry bulb onion crops.
The special registration proposed by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), will allow growers to use Starane® Ultra on dry bulb onions to control volunteer potatoes that sprout from the previous year’s crop and weeds such as chickweed, common purslane, common ragweed, and morning glory. The product may also help prevent late blight in potato and tomato crops, because volunteer potatoes in dry bulb onion fields can be a source of the fungus that causes late blight.
Starane® Ultra contains the active ingredient fluroxypyr and is registered by Dow AgroSciences LLC, Indianapolis, Ind.
The proposed special registration carries these conditions: * No more than two applications of 5.6 ounces of Starane® Ultra per acre * Broadcast applications may be made in the earlier growth stages of onions * Directed spray applications using drop nozzles must be used after onion plants pass the 6-leaf stage * No application within 42 days of harvest
For optimum control of volunteer potatoes, the potato plants should be 4 to 8 inches tall. Broadleaf weeds must be less than 4 inches tall.
The preliminary environmental assessment indicates that the proposed amendment will not require a full environmental impact statement. This special pesticide registration will expire December 31, 2014.
For a copy of the assessment, contact Matt Sunseri, DATCP, P.O. Box 8911, Madison, WI, 53708-8911, 608-224-4547. It is available for review at the department Monday-Friday, 7:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m., 2811 Agriculture Dr., Madison, second floor. Comments received on or before 4:30 p.m., April 12, will become part of the preliminary environmental assessment record. Send comments to Matt Sunseri by mail at the above address or by email at matthew.sunseri@wisconsin.gov.
Starane® Ultra is currently registered in Wisconsin and labeled for use in agricultural crops such as wheat, barley, oats, field corn, sweet corn, and grain sorghum, but it is not currently labeled for use in onions.
The special registration process allows states to register additional uses of pesticide products without prior federal approval. It helps growers address local pest problems that cannot be adequately controlled by any available federally registered product. These problems include insect outbreaks, fungal diseases, and grasses and weeds that outcompete crops. Details about the special registration process are available at http://datcp.wi.gov/uploads/Environment/pdf/SpecialRegistrationApplication.pdf.
DATCP had previously authorized a similar request for Starane® Ultra that expired on Dec. 31, 2012. The department has not received any reports of adverse effects from the previous special registration. Dow Agro-Sciences LLC, the manufacturer of Starane® Ultra, has requested adding use on onions to the federal label; if this occurs, special registration would not be necessary in the future.
