EPA approves use of metamitron for sugar beet weed control in 14 Nebraska counties

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently approved and issued an exemption to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) to allow farmers to use metamitron herbicide for weed control in sugar beets only in 14 designated Nebraska counties. The exemption was issued under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). NDA’s Pesticide Program staff work in close cooperation with the EPA to enforce FIFRA, as well as the Nebraska Pesticide Act.
“Sugar beets are a major crop in western Nebraska and are important to Nebraska’s economy and the state’s ag industry,” said NDA Director Sherry Vinton. “At NDA, we asked the EPA for this exemption to assist Nebraska sugar beet growers as they look for ways to optimize plant growth and production.”
Metamitron is the active ingredient in Goltix 700 SC, an unregistered product manufactured for and distributed by Makhteshim Agan of North America, Inc. Applications of the product may be made during the 2024 growing season to control glyphosate-tolerant Palmer Amaranth in sugar beet fields in the Nebraska counties of Banner, Box Butte, Chase, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel, Garden, Keith, Kimball, Morrill, Perkins, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, and Sioux.
Directions for use, restrictions and precautions found on the label dated Dec. 8, 2023, must be followed as well as additional restrictions outlined by the EPA in the exemption document which can be found on NDA’s website at https://nda.nebraska.gov/pesticide/section18_exemption.html
This exemption is valid until Aug. 31, 2024, although all applications must be made March 30, 2024, through May 31, 2024.