Kansas growers of sensitive and organic crops are increasingly concerned about drift damage from commonly used pesticides. To help reduce the risk of pesticide drift damage, the Kansas Department of Agriculture has become a partner state of DriftWatch Inc. DriftWatch Inc. is an online service that provides a place for producers of pesticide-sensitive specialty crops to map their crop locations. Pesticide applicators can use the website to find sensitive-crop locations in an effort to minimize the potential for damaging pesticide drift. Pesticide applicators can use the registry to identify where extra care should be taken to protect these vulnerable crops.

To register your sensitive crops grown in Kansas, visit https://driftwatch.org/.

If you suspect that a pesticide has been misused, including herbicide drift, please visit our online Pesticide Complaint Form.

Pesticides and Bees

 

Kansas producers and applicators may now map their fields, and register for notifications by signing up at https://driftwatch.org/. This program will be replacing the former Sensitive Crop map.

Applicators can also learn how these new tools can be used to identify sensitive crops before applying pesticides.

Please direct questions to our Pesticide & Fertilizer team at kda.pestfert@ks.gov or call us at 785-564-6688.

 

To register your sensitive crop on the new DriftWatch website, we recommend the following criteria be met:

• The crop is grown for commercial purposes and represents a legitimate source of income for the grower
• The crop is known for its propensity to be economically damaged by herbicides that volatilize readily
• If it is an organic crop, it must be produced under an organic certification program
• The producer requests that we publicize the location on the website

All approved crop sites appear on the DriftWatch registry map and is submitted directly to partner applicators. Farmers are responsible for keeping their information current and for removing a site that no longer meets these criteria. 

Registered DriftWatch Producers can purchase official 'No Drift Zone' signs to be posted in their fields. Order instructions will be sent once your specialty crop site is approved by the state data steward.

Also, 'Sensitive Crop Grown Here' signs  to post around your sensitive crop fields can be purchased through the K-State Research and Extension bookstore for $21.10 per sign.

Kansas growers of sensitive and organic crops are increasingly concerned about drift damage from commonly used herbicides. Many crops, like grapes, cotton, tomatoes, and fruit and nut trees, are especially sensitive to hormone-type herbicides. Growers of organic crops can lose their USDA certification if any type of pesticide, including any insecticide or fungicide, is detected in their crops.

Hormone-type herbicides are used to control weeds, trees and brush on cropland, pastures, lawns and roadside rights-of-way. These herbicides can be prone to drift and to damage crops sensitive to them. The damage can be relatively minor, or it can cause total crop loss. Many factors will influence whether an herbicide moves off target, including temperature and wind, but correctly using the right equipment and making the application at the right time can reduce the likelihood.

The following list will help determine if the herbicide is a hormone-type herbicide. The trade names that appear in this list were chosen because they are commonly found in the marketplace. Similar products are sold under different trade names, so check the ingredient list to verify whether the product is a hormone-type herbicide.

Hormone-Type Herbicides

Common Name	Trade Names	Common Use Sites
2,4-D	2,4-D, LV-4, LV6, Salvo, Savage, Weedone and other names	Corn, sorghum, cereals, fallow, noncropland, pasture, rangeland, lawn and turf
2,4-DB	Butyrol, Butoxone, Butyrac	Soybean and alfalfa
MCPA	MCPA Amine, MCPA Ester, Rhomene and other names	Cereals, lawn and turf
MCPB	Thistrol	Controls Canada thistle
Mecoprop	MCPP	Lawn and turf
dicamba	Banvel, Clarity, Distinct and Vanquish	Lawn and turf
clopyralid	Stinger, Reclaim and Transline	Corn, pasture, rangeland and noncropland
fluroxypyr	Starane and Vista	Cereals and noncropland
picloram	Tordon	Pasture, rangeland and noncropland
triclopyr	Garlon and Remedy	Pasture, rangeland and noncropland
quinclorac	Paramount	Sorghum and fallow
amino pyralide	Milestone, Milestone VM	range, pasture, industrial