The Weed Technology journal recently published results showing that herbicide spray drift from 2,4-D and dicamba can severely damage wine grapes near agronomic crops.

With the increased use of these products on glyphosate-resistant broadleaf weeds like Palmar amaranth and horseweed, grape growers are becoming more and more concerned about crop loss from drift. Researchers from Ohio State University ran test to determine if these concerns were justified. The greenhouse experiment simulated the impact of 2,4-D, dicamba and glyphosate spray drift on five important wine grape cultivators. Plants were evacuated at one week, 42 days, and 357 days after exposure.

Results shows significant damage to test plants exposed to 2,4-D and dicamba, with and without glyphosate.

“We determined that spray drift from 2,4-D and dicamba can severely injure each of the five grape varieties in our study, with those injuries increasing with greater exposure,” says Mohsen Mohseni-Moghadam of Ohio State University, lead researcher for the study. “Simulated drift from glyphosate alone, though, produced only slight vine injury.”

Full text of the article “Response of Wine Grape (Vitis spp.) Cultivars to Simulated Drift Rates of 2,4-D and Dicamba, and with/without Glyphosate” is now available in Weed Technology Vol. 30, Issue 3, July-September, 2016.